


Oil and Water

by TheRedRoster



Category: RWBY
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21617272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRedRoster/pseuds/TheRedRoster
Summary: Emerald and Mercury don't get along, but there's a comfort there when they're together. It's familiar, safe, if easily forgotten. But coming to realize that they need each other is the easy part. What's harrowing - frightening, even - is realizing what that means.
Relationships: Mercury Black/Emerald Sustrai
Comments: 30
Kudos: 38





	1. Arrest my frailty,

Emerald and Mercury had worked together for so long that they were nearly inseparable, and it had become almost strange to find one without the other. Cinder herself would come and go as she pleased but not them. Coming and going was precisely what everyone else in their lives did. But not them. Never them.

And in that time, they could not admit to how close they'd gotten because of it.

They bickered like children, flooding nonsense and venom into the hideouts they burrowed in, but the words were empty.

_Bitch!_

_Bastard!_

_Asshole!_

All of them meaningless, prodding at no truth. Because poking fun at his legs or his abusive father would be in poor taste, and jabbing at her homelessness or abandonment issues would actually be vile. So they chose their words carefully and jeer where it's safe, and it had become such a habit they'd forgotten they were doing it.

But then initiation at Beacon happened…

"Jaune Arc, Emerald Sustrai, and Nora Ren and Lie Ren. Together they are team JRNE! Led by Jaune Arc!"

The applause resonating from the crowd allowed Mercury to curse under his breath, effectively unheard. No one would see him leaving the auditorium either.

His team was called earlier, Primrose – PYMR, or something, he didn't care. He knew that when he walked up stage that he wouldn't be on Emerald's team. It didn't bother him so much but somehow seeing her up there, stood beside another guy, somebody she'd have to call _partner,_ did terrible things to his mood.

"He'll get her killed," he mumbled, allowing himself the delusion of his excuses where no one could refute them. "Fuck it…" _Should've been me._

"You seem pretty riled up." Yang Xiao Long grinned at him from behind, his scowl greeting her. "Missing her already?"

He needed to keep his cool but his bravado melted under his boiling frustrations. "You wouldn't understand," he said spitefully, sounding everything like a petulant child.

She scoffed, sporting a cheeky grin that rivaled the one he normally wore. "Try me."

"Thinkin' you can crack me on the first day? Look, blondie, you and me aren't going to get along."

"Oh, _sure_ ," she mocked, "we're only going to spend the better part of four years together. I'm sure nothing will happen and you ignoring me the whole time will totally work out."

"You'd be surprised at how persistent I can be at keeping my distance." He continued his stride for emphasis, his robotic legs were tireless after all.

She'd slung an arm over his shoulders. She caught up quicker than he expected. "And you'd be surprised at how quickly I can melt a _frozen heart_." Yang had a look of determination mixed with clear anger ruffling her brow and coating her tone. This was a challenge, for him and for her.

Hurried steps followed them. They turned back to find Emerald striding towards them.

Yang grinned and walked off passed Emerald.

"Merc, where you going?" Emerald asked. "I'm starving and I don't wanna have to eat with my team if I can help it."

He wasn't expecting to see her so soon so he had to steel himself. He hoped she didn't see whatever face he was making before this.

"Yeah, sure," he said easily, falling into step with her as they left. "Too bad you got partnered up with that loser though."

"You mean Jaune? Well, he isn't too bad. He took a big hit for me so I kind of owe him one."

He stopped, expressionless. For a moment she was worried.

He chuckled, eyes tainted darkly. His heart felt heavy, unbearable, but it didn't show in his eyes. "You getting soft on me, Em? Next thing you know; you'll start leaving us for them."

"Hey, I wouldn't…!" She caught a breath and steadied herself, stifling the bile threatening to breach her clenched teeth. She stormed passed him instead. "You're a complete _asshole_ , you know that?"

Mercury tried to reach for her but his hand stilled, instinctively pulling back with a snarl. _What am I doing? Not like I should give a shit._

As if reading his mind, Emerald shot him a look of disgust before vanishing in an illusion.

He knew that if he ran down the hall, he'd bump into her but couldn't bring himself to. It was too late to fix what he'd done.

It was an unconscious rule to not bring up the most sensitive parts about each other's history. Suggesting abandonment at all with her was one of them, and he'd spat it out. It wasn't unconscious either. His voice was tainted with venom and… _intent_. He _wanted_ to hurt her.

Alone in the hallway as students filtered in, he walked on and, ironically, felt very alone in the crowd. Their voices blurred as he marched, lost in his thoughts.

He didn't know what bothered him the most: that he might have actually been jealous of her new partner, or that he was just afraid of not having her by his side.

**[|}.{|]**

Sat together in the library, Emerald took a liking to Ren. There was nothing to tolerate when he presented nothing to endure, and so she sat with him in silence, pleased at the moment of peace.

She spent all of yesterday ignoring Mercury but just this morning she found herself eating breakfast with him and they even spared a conversation. She knew such things weren't sustainable, though.

Her personal connections were few – she could count them on half a hand – so she knew what it took to hold onto them. Her little spat with Mercury would only spur back to life if they didn't address it at some point. Things left unsettled tended to come back when they were the least convenient, and she'd rather quash this before it came back to bite her.

She just didn't know how.

"Something the matter?" Ren asked. She forgot he was even there.

"Oh, sorry. Uh… how can you tell?" She didn't like the persona she put with them, being friendly and all. It felt like a second skin that didn't quite fit, but she'd only hoped that didn't show on her face.

"You've been chewing your lip and groaning in frustration," he said. "I thought you were, at first, trying to get my attention, but it's clear you're struggling with something all by yourself."

"No, it's fine, I can handle it." She dismissed easily, not wanting to open herself up. "Don't worry about me, okay?" She nearly gagged at her own tone.

He sighed. "Emerald," he said sternly. "Though I do appreciate you taking the effort to be appealing for our sakes, it clearly isn't like you. I'd much rather you be more honest with yourself."

"…Heh?" Did he just see right through her? Maybe she laid it on too thick because Mercury was pissing her off. Regardless, Ren saw passed the veneer and almost seemed… disappointed. Hard to tell with him being stoic.

"I've seen the way you act with Mercury. You're unnaturally sweet with us by comparison. I won't pry as to why you feel you should put up a front but we're teammates now. If we're to lay our lives on the line for each other, I'd rather we do it without masks on."

"Ren, I don't think you'd like me as I really am." She was, after all, a criminal and Lie Ren was everything she wasn't – an aspiring peacekeeper. That put them at odds on the outset.

"Probably not," he said rather bluntly, "but I'd prefer it."

"Okay," she began, tossing her cover aside. Opening up about Mercury was too soon for someone she'd known a day, but he was giving her an opportunity to be honest about everyone else and the thought was liberating. So with the open invitation to unleash a bit of her spite, she started by hitting home. "I think your sister is going to be pain. Offense intended, I can already tell I'll have trouble finding any peace in the dorm with her actively in it."

"Nora isn't my sister." He pulled at a thin golden chain necklace tucked behind his collar, revealing a wedding band looped into it. "We're married."

"Yikes." _They weren't kidding about Mistral's loose marriage laws…_

He chuckled. "And I understand that she can be a bit of a handful, but I ask that you give her the chance to prove that she's more than a sugar high and a loud mouth."

Disappointment curled her bored frown; she was expecting more of a reaction. "You're awfully calm for someone whose wife was just insulted."

He set down his book and looked her straight in the eye. "Oh, trust me, I'm _seething_." His small smile sold it, and for a moment she felt – not quite _fear_ per se but something that gave her pause. He returned to his book, breaking eye contact. "I cannot fault anyone's first impression of Nora, however. While _she_ is unwilling to give anyone who crosses us the benefit of the doubt, I have to temper myself in her stead."

"Well, sorry for that, I guess." Emerald felt uncomfortable, out of her element. "I haven't even given her twenty-four hours… I'll do better." She hated what she was letting pour out her mouth.

"You don't have to like her," he said quickly. "As long you're civil, we'll get along just fine. Nora will love you anyway and I'm sure she can manage to bring you around." His smile was genuine, soft, layered with an affection she'd not yet seen in… _anyone_ , really. A small part of her envied it, a larger part of her wondered what it felt like.

Emerald wouldn't bet on Nora pulling off the impossible, though, but she wasn't unwilling to try. "We'll see about that," she said.

Ren's mysterious little smile was already gone, back to his normal self, but he watched her still. His book closed. "Still, I can't imagine Nora bothering so much that you'd openly grumble to yourself," he said.

He'd caught her there. She usually prepared her excuses in advance for her cover but she didn't need them here. It was strange, suddenly being caught up in what amounted to a high school drama. It was almost _normal_. "Me and Merc had a fight. We've unconsciously decided to move on and ignore the issue."

"What happened?"

"He said something he wasn't supposed to. The kind of thing you know you shouldn't mention."

Ren hummed affirmatively. "I didn't take you for someone to be sensitive about your past."

"Oh, I'm not," she said honestly. " _Talking_ about it is fine, really, but using it to take a jab at me is a crossing the line."

"Would you like him to apologize for it?"

She couldn't imagine Mercury actually doing that. It would make him look too vulnerable, which went against everything he was taught. Well, not so much _taught_ as it was more beaten into him. "No," she admitted with a sigh, "but I wouldn't be opposed to him acknowledging that he'd done something wrong."

The solution seemed so simple that Ren believed that there had to be more to it. "Would that be enough?"

She stared at him, confused. "Shouldn't it?"

"It's not normally that easy." Not that it was any more complicated with Nora. Their arguments were so sparse that he could barely remember they ever happened, and whenever they cropped up, they'd be resolved quickly.

"I don't think my relationship with Mercury can be considered normal."

"What are you two, then?"

"We're…" She wasn't sure she could say any more or less than acquaintances. Partners in crime was usually her go-to but it wouldn't work here. Reducing it to partners sparked very _different_ thoughts. What exactly where they though? "…you know, I'm not sure."

"Is _friends_ not adequate?"

"When you rely on someone for so long in the wilds, you forget that most people in the cities have labels for what you are. Sometimes they're your shadow or your shield, but we don't really know what that means outside of a fight. In the end I think we're more reliant than we are _reticent_."

"Ah, a black lily." She noticed the little smile he flashed over a cheek.

"You're intentionally being cryptic here, but I'll bite. What's a black lily?"

He chuckled to himself. "Sorry. I don't often get to talk about the language of flowers." He coughed. "In the old tongue, the black lily represented both 'curse' and 'love', sometimes it meant both."

"I don't like where this is going but… what kind of love is _cursed_?"

"One with caveats. It might be doomed to fail or is forbidden. To harbor it might be taboo, or to remember it might bring pain – like if you lost someone. In your case, yours is cursed to stay ambiguous because that may be where you're most comfortable."

Emerald didn't know what to say about that. It felt about right, because wanting to quantify what they have would cause issues. She let the idea stew.

Ren leaned in "Tell me," he said, "would things be easier if you knew exactly what it was that you actually had?"

"I don't know." She almost hated how little she knew about her own emotions here.

"Then I suggest you wait until you know what you want." Ren set his book on the table. All attention on her. "The way I see it, confronting this issue would ask one of you to surrender your pride to apologize or to ask for what amounts to one. And no matter how you look at it, it would suggest something more from either of you."

"I don't think it's that complicated," she said.

"Maybe. But if it was, would you be prepared to answer the same question from him? About what you are? Of him to you, or you to him?"

Ren took his book and said no more, opening it fully and never even glancing at her for the long minutes she sat there in complete silence. He had a propensity for being invisible, it seemed, as Emerald found herself alone with her thoughts despite his presence. Even as she mumbled to herself, he respectfully ignored her strained whispers.

" _It's not like I hate him… right? Ugh, what am I saying…?_ "

Ren chose not to chuckle at that.

**[|}.{|]**

Mercury noticed that something was eating Emerald up. It likely had something to do with what he did the week before, but he didn't know how to act on it without putting himself on a servile platter. Being so vulnerable, even with _her_ , felt alien to him.

Still, it wasn't like he was above seeking advice.

Pyrrha Nikos was a famous athlete, and was surely popular. She _had_ to have had experience with this.

Thinking to corner her for a moment after class, he waited for her to leave so he could tail her and get her attention because she would return to their dorm alone to change for her twilight sparring sessions. Despite being his partner, she was at the opposite end of the amphitheater classroom, all because she had taken a shine to a completely different team: Emerald's.

Though Nora and Ren mostly kept to each other – well, more Nora really – Pyrrha was pretty animated when speaking to Jaune and Emerald.

Yang leaned into view, a cheeky grin plastered on her face. "Who you staring at?"

He ignored her and watched Professor Port wax rhetoric instead.

"Hm… Emerald would be too easy," Yang continued. "Maybe Pyrrha? You are _partners_ , after all." He hated hearing anyone but Emerald being called that. "Unless it's Jauney-boy? Didn't know you swung that way, Merc."

She was almost disappointed with what got him talking. "Jauney boy?" He reeled. "Since when were you two close?"

"Mmph!" Ruby – Yang's cousin – waved from her lying position on Yang's lap, mouth full of cookie. "We're friends," Ruby announced after gorging another. "I introduced them the night of initiation. He's nice! Wanna make friends with him too?"

He waved her off. "Pass."

Ruby looked up at Yang who said, "He's upset about Emmy making new friends."

"Hardly," he said.

Ruby nodded. "I agree."

They stared at her.

"I think he just misses her," Ruby continued, immediately earning Mercury's ire again. Ruby watched Yang's surprised face then Mercury's apparent disgust. "C'mon, it's obvious!"

He sighed. It wasn't worth it, being evasive. "I was looking at Pyrrha," he admitted.

"Oh." Yang was genuinely surprised. "Didn't think you'd be honest there."

"Look," he began, "I just wanna talk to my partner after class. No big deal."

"Why though?"

"Could you just drop it, Xiao Long?"

"Nope!" Ruby interrupted. "She just wants to help you out. If you stopped being difficult, that is."

He raised a brow at Yang who gave him an honest shrug. "She's not wrong," she said. "Hell, I won't even pry. If you want some alone time with your partner, I can get everyone off your back so you can talk to her."

"You're being surprisingly helpful with someone whose been giving you shit for the past week."

Yang glanced over at Pyrrha surrounded by a different team. "You're our leader's partner. You were supposed to bridge us together but Jaune came along and now she's over _there_. When this is all over, you owe it to us to get our leader back and give us a team."

He huffed. "Sounds like a lot of work for one favor…"

Ruby got up and leaned over her desk. "Well, unless you wanna get between _that,_ you're gonna need the help." She pointed at Pyrrha who was fidgeting from her position next to Jaune. She leaned in to listen to Emerald on the other side but retracted every time she realized she was a breath's length from the blonde.

To anyone watching, it looked like Pyrrha was smitten with Jaune. When _Emerald_ teased them and they both shied away, he felt his tension slack.

Still, Pyrrha disappointed him. It looked like she was little more than a blushing maiden than an eccentric celebrity. She couldn't help him with Emerald that was for sure.

**[|}.{|]**

When Yang came to distract everyone from Pyrrha, she didn't expect Mercury to muscle in too and drag Pyrrha along with them. Together, they spent the afternoon sparring, and for the first time it seemed like they were a team. Even team SNBW joined in as per Ruby's invitation. She blew up Weiss Schnee before initiation and it somehow made them friends.

"Now _you_ owe _me,_ " Merc told Yang when they headed for their lockers. She was too happy to make any objections.

But despite all the camaraderie, Mercury walked back to his dorm alone.

He reveled in the quiet that wasn't the sheer rancor bursting off the three sister teams. Here he could think on the unease at the back of his head.

There was discomfort, an unfamiliarity coiling underneath his own skin because he didn't know why he did what he did.

Yang asked to bring the teams together and whether or not it was his intention, he managed it. The opportunity was given so readily. Yang wrangled the two teams together save for Pyrrha and himself, and since he saw no reason to ask Pyrrha for advice, he dragged her along and suddenly they were all getting friendly. It was just so easy to do that he could have been mistaken for doing it unconsciously, but it didn't matter his intentions.

The results spoke for themselves and… he wasn't _unhappy_ with it either. But it wasn't the budding friendships that occupied his mind – _never_ that – nor was it his admittedly satisfying spar with Yang. Something else was there, and it was _haunting_ him, marring footsteps and unsteadying his mind.

Emerald was waiting for him by his dorm room. There was a sharpness to her eyes, laced with what looked like the same uneasiness. Her teeth grit as she approached, a gravitas with every step, and Mercury fully expected her to erupt.

But when she arrived she looked away instead, somehow diffusing herself along the way. There was a redness to her cheeks that he hadn't seen on her before. "What's with you, Merc?"

"Huh? What did I do?"

She looked surprised. "You were _staring_ at me!"

"Was I?" He asked genuinely.

"You were! And now the girls won't shut up about it!" She was embarrassed, still couldn't meet his eyes. She tried to glance but looked away again. "Mercury!"

"W-what!?"

"Why are you smiling!?"

"I am?" He was. And it wasn't the same one that he normally did. It was soft. Unlike him. There was relief too… _familiar_ relief. The kind you don't notice until it's missing.

"Ugh! Nevermind!" She stormed off.

He tried to reach for her but pulled back on instinct again. There was a frustration that he knew he should have felt, _wanted_ to have felt even, but there was none of that. That _relief_ – that sense of normality with her – it faded as she left, vanishing into the dark like a retreating tide.

Then a loneliness flooded the senses as the silence of the hallway carried a weight he'd only felt once before in his life.

He felt his heart beat in that overbearing quiet, and with a hand to his chest, felt it beat again against his palm.

**[|}.{|]**

But Emerald hadn't left. Instead she was staring at him a scant few feet away. She casted an illusion to hide herself.

Her fingers twitched from her already outstretched hand, cowardice pulling it back. She was angry at him, but also embarrassed, confused, lonely and a bevy of other things that either had no name or refused to make itself easy for her to understand.

Because everything she felt right now was new. Because she hadn't had to share him before.

Mercury and Emerald were inseparable when they were pulled out of the indifferent world that let them become what they were. Outside of it was them, _together_. Even if that relationship came with insults and uncertainty, it had – by some errant miracle – been _comforting_.

A sensation lost to them as their doors shut behind them. And as their teammates filled their rooms with laughter, drama, and gossip, their world felt indifferent again – ignorant of their fitful sleep.


	2. shield me from the sun

"Whoo! Girls night!" Yang cheered as she plopped onto her bed with soda in her hands, making Ruby bounce just an inch in the air for a moment. She handed her cousin her drink with an apologetic smile.

Ruby took it with practiced grace, even if she had to part her long hair from her face. It wasn't like she could ever be mad at her. "Where's Blake and Emerald?" Ruby asked, checking her scroll with a flick of her wrist. "They're late."

"Probably with their _boyfriends_ ," Nora jeered, breaking no concentration from her intense match with Pyrrha on their scrolls.

Yang's head tilted to see Weiss watching from one of the beds. "Then why is Weiss early?"

Weiss guffawed. "I'll have you know that me and Neptune are just taking things slow!"

Ruby tapped the wall beside her with a knuckle. "That's not what the thin walls say."

Weiss promptly shut her mouth and blushed up a storm. Any more defending herself would bury her.

Blake chose that moment to come in – a smile on her face and a nightgown tussled off a shoulder.

Emerald came after. "Sorry we're late." she said, "Blake was a little difficult to get off of Sun."

"Clingy-much," Weiss commented.

"Boys had trouble yanking him off of her too. Had to grab them from both ends."

"To be fair," Blake said, "we were intentionally making things difficult. You all caught us in the act and Sun decided to double down to hide the embarrassment. I think it's funny how none of you noticed we were laughing half the time. He even raspberried the side of my lip." She fell onto an empty bed with a melodic chuckle, cat ears twitching.

"How romantic," Emerald drawled as she sat by Weiss. She turned to the little woman who raised a brow. "Neptune missed you, by the way. Said he was sorry for getting caught up and that he'd make it up to you once they get back."

"Ha!" Yang jeered from across the room. "So you _were_ supposed to meet him!"

"A clandestine little meeting, eh?" Blake said. "Where was it this time? The ballroom? Library? I hear clothes tend to come off around the boiler room."

"Ugh, nowhere so garish! It was supposed to be at – mmph!" Weiss covered her mouth quickly. The girls laughed.

"Hey now, leave her alone," Nora said as she stood, speaking calmly like the mother hen she was. When she smiled like that, it shone brightly, calling attention to the rough scars rimmed around her neck. "This is her first boyfriend! Cut her some slack. It's supposed to be awkward."

Emerald briefly considered if starting one with Merc would be met with the same fumbling. She blushed before burying the thought. It was too late though. Pyrrha noticed and sat on the floor beside the bed, looking up at her with an excited smile. Weiss took the equal opportunity to deflect her embarrassment onto her instead, leaning over the side of the bed with a similar smile curling her delicate lips.

Sensing more teasing that Nora might diffuse, Ruby tapped Yang's shoulder and pointed at the predators staring down their prey. Yang nodded as Ruby hopped out of bed, announcing, "Alright, Nora! You and me: Rematch!"

Nora bore no protests. She wasn't blind though. She knew exactly what was going on with Emerald, but decided that maybe some teasing would be in her best interest. "You're on, Branwen!"

Emerald felt very cornered when Yang sidled up next to her, Blake shadowing behind.

"I saw you two coming out of our dorm alone," Pyrrha said in an attempt to tease but she could not help but squeal. "Ah! I'm so excited for you two!"

Emerald's hands waved defensively. "Hey, we're not like that!"

"Please," Weiss said with an eye roll, "you gravitate to each other so much that it's a wonder you two haven't started attracting asteroids." She fell back against the headrest as she pulled up her scroll, hiding well the delicate ghost of mischief on her lips. "You always manage to walk side-by-side when we're all together, you frequently vanish only to come back at the same time – Yang and Nora timed it." Those very girls nodded. "You're always sitting next to each other –"

Emerald raised a hand. "I'm gonna have to stop you right there, Weiss." She gave the crowd a look before she sat back, leveling herself. "I'll admit, me and Merc kinda miss each other more and that we're trying to compensate for it. It's… _strange_ not being around each other all the time, but that's all there is to it, I swear."

Yang laid a hand on Emerald's arm. She felt her squeeze. Yang was serious about what she was about to say. "Em, I don't mean to tease but you two _are_ pretty chummy. I know you've known each other for years and all but can you seriously tell me that you've been like this since forever and _aren't_ dating by now?"

She breathed. "You've got it all wrong," she said calmly. "This thing with me and Mercury it's… Well, it's _new_. We weren't like this before Beacon."

"What?" Blake intoned, ears perked. "Doesn't that mean that one of you – ?" Yang silenced her with a finger. A cautionary hand raised, asking her to slow down.

Yang spoke. "Emerald… do you like Mercury?"

"We get along just fine," she admitted. "Not sure what you'd call us but we're pretty comfortable with each other. No offense to you all but I'm more… _at home_ , I guess you could say, when I'm with him."

Blake bit her lip. "That explains the lack of sexual tension…"

"Ooh!" Nora chimed, having freshly beaten Ruby. It looked like neither of them cared much for the game. "Emerald!" She got in-between the girls and took her hands. "I know how you feel so I won't push you to figure yourself out just yet. It's a beautiful thing, coming to the conclusion yourself." She sat beside her, opposite to Yang, and leaned in. Nora had a gentle smile that mirrored her husband, but the wide expressive eyes laced it with motherly awe. It put Emerald at ease but she was afraid all the same of what she'd say. "But you gotta ask yourself, does Mercury feel the same way? You think that maybe – just _maybe_ – _he_ might be in love with _you_?"

**[|}.{|]**

There was a store room in the basement where all the tools for maintenance were. Since it was a secret between the faculty and them that Mercury had robotic legs, he was allowed to be down there with his partner.

_Partner…_

He looked up at Emerald as they sat on the metallic table. She was eying the inner workings of his legs as she leaned off her side. He wondered if it was alright to still call her _his_ partner, even if she was officially tied to someone else.

Then it got him thinking. What were they if not partners in crime?

"Em?" he asked, twisting his wrench to tighten the metallic tendons in his legs.

She blinked at him. "Hm?"

A bolt loosened. He grunted. "Fuckin' thing…" He kept tightening. "So what exactly are we?" He asked so nonchalantly that hadn't notice her eyes widening with terror.

"M-Merc! The fuck are you asking!?"

His brow furrowed. "What's the big deal? It's a simple question."

"I…" Emerald steeled her heart. The girls for the past few weeks had been relentless with the teasing and it didn't help that ever since that lonely night apart, they'd regularly sought each other out. She stood there, embarrassment opening up her pensive little heart before she went completely still. "I don't know, Merc," she said, genuinely confused. "F-friends?" she asked as a guess, but a part of her was begging for him to agree.

She couldn't tell if he felt the same way. His nose scrunched up as he stared at her. "Say that with a straight face," he demanded.

Her heart was racing. She hated the vulnerability, hated that her days living in a school setting with teams, drama, and gossip had turned her into a fucking _girl_. But somehow she also loved it. It came with a normalcy that was altogether exciting and alien, and she could freely explore that part of her if she was with him.

"Friends," she said sternly. "We eat together and have nicknames that aren't _gigantic asshole_ or _massive bitch_. I think that qualifies us as friends." She laughed. "Somehow."

She had managed to stun Mercury as his eyes were wide and unblinking, mouth slightly agape. It was hard to tell how he was feeling, and for moment she thought she'd managed a breakthrough. He laughed, smiling that smile that told her that he was either deflecting or had somehow missed the point. "Ha! You're surprisingly forward today." He returned to working on his leg. "Fallin' for me already?"

It was an offhanded question, and it was probably just teasing on his part cause that's just how he is but… Mercury wasn't the one being taunted day-in and day-out with a flood of complex suggestions from their teams about how Mercury may or may not have been in love with her all along.

She turned away from him, hoping her body language didn't give away the warring emotions churning a storm inside of her. "Are you… are you seriously asking me that?"

She hoped she sounded neutral, but Mercury's brain was on the fritz.

He went completely still, save for the twitching in his fingers as they held delicate wires between them. "I… Are you…" With her facing away from him, he allowed himself to grit his teeth to fight back the abject confusion and self-directed frustration, because why the fuck would Mercury Black have to start blushing now? He hated it, but his burning cheeks disagreed. "Damn it, Em…" he mumbled under heated breath, clutching the wires in his hand dangerously tight.

She didn't know if he was angry at her or just confused but she already got off her seat. Emerald couldn't take it at this point. Too many emotions at once and it was getting dangerous. "Fine, Merc, let's just forget about it." Her feet begged to run away already, to face him with a cooler head later, but just like that night, cowardice fought against her.

He reached out for her but she was pretty far, so he leaned further to grab her, partially balancing himself on her arm. "Em?" he asked with genuine concern.

She turned back to see those softly shaded eyes laced with unconscious concern and _of course_ the idiot had no idea what face he was making again, because he was more concerned about her than he was about his bravado. Heated cheeks burned in her eyes before she pulled herself away.

He nearly fell off the table, catching himself on the end. "Whoa…! Hey!"

"Don't…" She said slowly. "Don't look at me like that…" _Don't look at me like you care. Don't look at me like you love me. Don't… look at me like any of this teeny-bopper school bullshit is real._ "It's… it's all just getting to me." Her breath was haggard, ambivalence shading expressions across her face like a slideshow. "Fuck it…"

She walked away.

Dumbfounded, confused, and maybe a little heartbroken, Mercury sat himself up on the table and watched Emerald walk out of the room. The normally cunning and blasé man had just witnessed a teen drama in action and it turned him into a confused mess.

She was looking really cute though. That made him a little happy.

He heard a spark. He couldn't feel his leg.

The wires he was holding were tugged too far when he stumbled. He was going to have to dismantle it but it was going to take hours to do alone. He needed help and his scroll was intentionally left in his room to get alone time with Emerald… _Oh!_

"Em! Emerald!" He shouted. "Hey! Come back!"

**[|}.{|]**

He'd been there for three hours but he was missing a few replacement parts in his room. He ended up limping and that compounded with everything else just got his blood pumping. He was seething, and it didn't help that he was also tired which made it difficult to process how he was feeling.

It also didn't help that Emerald was striding down the hallway towards Maintenance. "Merc! There you are. Where have you – ?" She stared at his limping leg. "Merc?"

He stomped passed her.

She remembered the near fall he had. Inadvertently, she caused it. "Hey!" She ran up to him. "Look, I didn't mean to do it!"

He kept trying to outpace her but he wasn't getting very far. This was all so absurd and embarrassing that he would have been laughing at it all if he wasn't bursting at the seams with something bitter.

"Merc, I'm – !"

"I know!" he shouted. His staggered breathing made him look like he was fuming but the moment of fear in her eyes made him hate himself. Fury drained from his face but threatened to surface when he looked away. "I know… but I'm still mad, and I can't stand blowing up at you again." He walked off. "Just, please, leave me alone for now, okay?"

He left her in that hallway. He didn't look back.

**[|}.{|]**

Yang frequented clubs for many reasons. Mostly it was so she could have a little fun and flirt up a storm, but not when she was _mad_. When she was mad, she preferred the back alleys. That's usually where she'd find a sleezebag or two she could deck guilt free. Sometimes she'd find a bunch of them with a victim-to-be, giving her a half-dozen assholes to bruise in the process. Police never needed to cuff them after that, not when they ran screaming into the cop cars when she was done with them.

So when Mercury accompanied her to let loose after being trapped in Maintenance for too damn long, they ended up imprinting some thugs into the brick walls, and he decided that Yang knew exactly how to have a good time.

After kneeing a thug's face in, Mercury marveled at the smoothness in his leg. "We should do this more often."

Yang dropped one guy on top of another and dusted her hands clean. "Ooh, we friends now?"

He grinned. "Don't push your luck Xiao Long," he said as they stood face-to-face. He shrugged then walked away. "But I'll take it into consideration. It's a long waiting list thought. It might be a while."

"I can wait. Dad told me to get a variety of friends so I don't get bored and I have yet to cross off _self-important asshole_ off the list."

He found it in him to laugh at that.

"Why don't we head inside?" she offered. "Pyrrha's confessing to Jaune with some liquid courage and it's either going to be an awkward mess or a hot one." She looped an arm around him. "We can make bets! Loser buys drinks."

He peeled himself off of her. "A hot mess? With those two?"

"You don't think so?"

"Well, I can see why Pyrrha might be but _Jaune_?"

Yang shrugged. "He's kind of cute as a dope – the lean muscle helps too. At least he's a cut above some of the bigots at Beacon."

He didn't want to argue that. _Don't be an asshole_ was surprisingly difficult to pull off, but that was just him. "Why aren't _you_ dating him, then?"

"I need to get to know a guy before I start taking an interest but he's already got Pyrrha. Besides, do I _look_ like the kind of girl who'd latch onto every marginally attractive guy I come across?"

He smirked.

"Are you serious?" she deadpanned, making it very clear that it'd be dangerous to keep testing her right now.

He looked her up and down. "I'll admit you look more like the bouncer."

She eased off because he'd successfully kept his pride without basically calling her _easy_ , even if she still wanted to deck him. He was staring at her arms though and not the whole of her. She ended up diffusing and following his eyes.

She went out with a jacket that normally hugged her curves, but she'd taken it off so she wouldn't get it dirty. Underneath it was her little white tank top which showed off her arms. Covered in scars from her days training with her mother and uncle, she suddenly felt sheepish about the idea that she really did look tougher than the bouncers at the Club. "Wow, okay, guess I don't look pretty beefy this way." She walked up to her parked bike and looked at herself in the mirror, flexing. "Gotta lay off on the arms. Any more and I'll start looking like dad." Still, maybe the right guy wouldn't mind. Hell, maybe the right guy was _bigger_.

"Can't play the princess and can't nab a prince," Mercury said. "You'd probably snap him in two with those guns…"

She grabbed her jacket off of Bumblebee and slipped it on absentmindedly. "So what? I'm just glad I'm not the one with daddy issues…"

His heart stopped. His body seized. "…What?"

"You're talking about Weiss and Neptune, right? She has a terrible brother and a worse dad. She needs a little softness and the right kind of pampering in her life and I think Neptune can be that for her."

"R-right…"

Yang noted his wavering confidence as he thought quietly. It was odd seeing him this way, but it was also pleasant. He was the epitome of smarm and backtalk when he's his usual self, and everyone seemed to have taken a shine to it since he was clearly self-aware, but there are were moments where he'd get like this. Mercury almost looked normal here, and it was the first time he looked like this _and_ Emerald wasn't somehow involved. "Can I say that I'm glad that you patched things up with Emerald?"

"Hm…" His eyes widened. He hadn't told her about his fight with Emerald earlier today so she had to have been referring to their spat on the first week.

"She was talking about you, y'know?"

"She was?"

"Emerald has a lot of stories about you." Yang looked like she was recollecting a pleasant memory, and that shocked him.

Emerald had stories about him that weren't complaints? Well, there _was_ that one time they drank a whole village under the table by cheating, or when they stole the mayor's prized mounted lion head just cause he made a pass at Cinder or the time they robbed a jeweler blind cause he slapped Emerald when she was a kid and… _By the gods, he had stories too._

Yang was up in his face, bent down enough to look up at his craned face. "Remembering something nice?" He hadn't realized he'd been smiling.

"I…" He couldn't bring himself to flirt at her just cover up. It almost felt wrong.

"Shush," she said quickly, righting herself. "I promised I wouldn't pry and I won't until you're ready to stop guarding yourself. For now, we should head inside and catch up with Jaune and Pyrrha. _I_ still have a bet to win."

"You go on ahead," he said without his usual cheek. He was giving up on that for now. "I'll catch up with you later."

She nodded.

"Oh, and Yang?"

"Hm?"

"Fifty lien it's a disaster."

She smiled. "Deal." The metallic backdoor shut behind her.

Despite himself, Mercury was surprised to find that he didn't outright erupt at Yang earlier. He expected the suggestion of him and his father in any capacity would trigger sordid memories but instead all he had was a brief, if negative, reaction.

Was he easing out of it? He'd lived his whole life going rampant at the thought of his father but it seemed so distant now. He used to thrive in that anger. When it was _real._ When it was _present_. And yet it wasn't anymore.

Miles and miles away from a home he was happy to burn down, he was instead here in the back alley of a club with a teammate, shooting the shit and kicking ass, and now he was about to enter the Club with said teammate and drink his anger away.

Except he wasn't angry. Not really. Not anymore.

A cursory glance at his surroundings revealed a cardboard box in the corner with a tattered sleeping bag in it. It took no real stretch of the imagination to consider that Emerald had to sleep in these things on harder days.

That's when Mercury realized that he was more worried about Emerald than he was about himself.

He wasn't mad that Emerald inadvertently broke his cyborg legs. He was mad that she left him alone down there with his own thoughts, working out his frustration without her. Trapped down there for three hours with no one to even supplement her to some measly degree. He felt all the more alone now.

She must have felt the same thing when he left her in that corridor.

He sent a quick message to Emerald before sending another to Yang.

He left that alley and headed for Beacon.

**[|}.{|]**

The night was harsh, stitched with some errant tension that ebbed in the rolling winds that frosted against the exposed skin of their necks. Or maybe Emerald and Mercury were just writhing under their bundled nerves and attributing the uneasiness to the cold night air was easier than admitting they were both bursting messes, barely contained.

They faced off in an empty courtyard, weapons at the ready. Their hands were shaking, the sweat of their palms slacking their grip.

Their clash thundered over the courtyard, roiling force rippling against the cobblestones as they tore through them. Steel against steel, dust against dust.

And amidst all the grunting, roaring, and explosives were the obscenities.

_Little orphan shit!_

_Legless little bastard!_

But the words, even at their worst, were meaningless. Even if they touched a part of a sensitive past, they were obscenities all the same. And soon, as those words filled the air long after the fighting had settled and their speech was muddled with gasps, those words lost all meaning.

With her blades left by some the dirt and his legs spent of rounds, they dragged themselves to each other and… _screamed._

Screamed even as the rain came and muddied their feet. Even as their hands grabbed the base of their necks. Even as their eyes met and their fury and frustrations waned.

Silence followed the rain that rattled against them and the cobblestones.

They fell to their knees as their haggard breathing turned their throats hoarse, their foreheads pressed against each other. Emerald was the first to cough, glad that aura would make sure she wouldn't lose her voice in the morning. Mercury coughed after, spittle making its way to her cheek.

"Oh, shit…" He breathed. "Sorry."

She stared at him. "…What?"

"Oh, fuck…" He had _apologized_.

"I'm sorry too." She was surprised how easy it was to say now. It was liberating.

He blinked at her. If it wasn't for the rain, she might have guessed he might have been crying. "You're smiling like an idiot."

"So are you."

He touched his cheek. He _was_ smiling, but at this point he stopped caring.

They laughed till their throats gave and their hearts were heaving.

**[|}.{|]**

The rain chased them into the corridors and their rancor echoed across the halls.

Bodies damp and overtaxed, they found their way into the lockers. Spare outfits without all the armor or the heels would do before they snuck back into their dorms. Maybe they didn't have to go back to their rooms, though. Maybe there was an empty dorm room somewhere they could hack into and spend the night. Maybe they could sleep in what they were in. Just like before.

Emerald was drying her hair by a mirror, plucking tiny pebbles out of her joints and hair that she missed in the shower.

Mercury knocked but didn't wait for her to answer. She couldn't find it in herself to complain much. With all the woes of the day drowned by the rain, she was too happy to be mad at him at all.

In the reflection she saw him stood there, staring at her. "You want something, Merc, or are you just gawking?" She grinned when she turned, but he was closer and his face was completely serious. Her smile faded. Her heart thrummed.

When he spoke, he couldn't meet her eyes. "Look, I'm… I'm gonna cut the bullshit. I think I care about you… _a lot_. Way more than my favorite person."

She raised a brow. "Who's your favorite person?"

He shot a look at the mirror, at himself, tongue clicking with his finger guns.

She giggled. "Good to see growing a heart hasn't stopped your vanity any."

He shrugged. At this point, he wasn't even sure what he was saying. "Hey, there's room enough for both of you now."

She couldn't deny what this all sounded like. "Merc…" she said softly.

"What?"

The door opened, followed by a gaggle of voices. "I bet we can find a nice pair from Xiao Long," someone said.

"Weird how the door was already unlocked," said another voice.

Mercury was prepared to kick the shit out of them but he felt a tug at his collar. Emerald stared up at him with a look of shock. She was still in a towel.

He had to hide her first. He took her wrist and brought her running towards the divider between the lockers. A good few feet hid her there.

He searched for the perverts at their flanks. There were none. Couldn't even hear their footsteps. "Where are they…?"

"Mercury," Emerald tittered. He looked to her once more and she was in her spare combat gear again.

"Did you just–?"

She hugged him by the neck. "Mmm…" She buried her face in his shoulder.

He only hesitated for a moment, folding an arm over her lower back and the other cradled the back of her head.

It all felt artificial to Emerald. The budding relationship, the cold heart turning golden before her very eyes, the unnatural warmth against the cold, cold tiles. Life here in Beacon meant school life with all the bells and whistles all that drama normally produced. Sometimes that was heartache in the process of finding yourself, other times it was bliss rolled under heated sheets on a cold morning or breakfast with a friend on the weekend.

As her arms wound comfortably around Merc's neck, she wondered how all of this might change once the Vytal Festival came and they'd have to go back to their old lives. Was it wrong to want days like these to last forever? Where she wasn't fighting for her life or doing Cinder's bidding? Where she was working on discovering herself and whatever she was with Mercury?

She felt that she was perhaps too far gone already. Such things like normalcy or human _fucking_ comfort didn't belong to people like her… but when she found her heart beating just breath's distance away from _his_ , beating against each other, she thought maybe she could lose herself in the delusion. Even if it was brief. Even if it might never truly be hers.

"I think I care about you too," she whispered, taking in his scent.

He held her tighter, reveling in the warmth.

She pulled away, the hint of sadness buried in the joy bursting in her cheeks. "Walk me to my room?"

**[|}.{|]**

He followed her through the dark, eyes set on the sheen of her hair every time it flustered against the faint corridor lights. It was starting to feel like the hallways went on forever.

"I don't know how I'm going to explain to everyone why I was out for so long and came back in a different outfit," Emerald said.

"Just say you went on a date or something. I'll cover for you if I have to," he suggested.

"Merc, you know what you're saying, right? They'll never shut up about it. Hell," she laughed at herself, " _I_ might not."

"You don't have to say it was with _me_."

She scoffed. "Who else _would_ it be with?"

He chambered a retort that died on his lips. Was she really suggesting that she'd never date anyone else? Pulled out of his stupor, he didn't see her in front of him. She vanished.

There was a warmth around him in the darkness but there was nowhere it could have come from. He panicked.

Then, in the haze of it all, he felt a wet kiss on his cheek. He nearly jumped, body going static as he touched he touched where she kissed him.

He blinked as the illusion around him faded and he saw Emerald grinning at him at an open doorway, her team behind her. They were squealing.

Behind him, the warmth he felt was from his own dorm room, and he could hear the barely contained joy brimming off his teammates.

"Good night, Merc," she said as she sauntered into her room.

"Night… Em…" he said breathlessly, still very much in shock.

He was dragged into his room.

The night wasn't so cold after that.


	3. Hold me close,

Roman Torchwick was a cautious man, so he made it a habit to always look for discrepancies whenever they arose, and always eavesdropped on guests in his safe houses so he could eye a betrayal a mile away. A ploy to overthrow him or steal his money was commonplace. Poisoning his wine happened so many times that he'd taken to trying them anyway to build immunity. There was anticipation for just about anything.

But this…?

Mercury and Emerald were lying on one of his sofas, and normally they were on opposite ends of it – keeping distance and bickering like the children they were – but instead they were _cuddling._ Her back against his chest, pleased as god damn _plums_.

From Emerald's cozy position between Mercury's legs, she shimmied up till his head was against her shoulder. She showed him a video with what appeared to be her… friends? There was screaming, a crash, and they laughed. _Laughed_.

Neo was beside him, equally baffled. For a moment there was fear in her eyes, but then they softened. She didn't have his paranoia – all the thinking ahead was _his_ job – and she opted to take this for what it was. Sauntering over, Neo leaned over the sofa, her weightlessness indicating no give as she admired them up close.

Roman decided to take a moment to collect himself before he walked over to the back door. When he opened and shut it, Neo took it as a cue to break the illusion that was cloaking them. Emerald's head shot up, accidently bumping into Mercury's chin, and not only did she _apologize…_ he did _too_!

When he marched around the sofa to face them, there was an attempt to create a snide remark to open with. He abandoned it quickly and decide on, "Okay… what the _fuck_?" He gestured to them.

They blinked… and laughed at him.

"Wow, Roman," Emerald said. "If one cuddle is all it took to lose your cool then Neo is totally top."

Neo – the _fucking traitor_ – nodded.

Though Roman didn't often blush – opting to sneer at them for the comment – he _did_ turn a very light shade of red when Neo looked him up and down and licked her lips. He pulled his bowler hat down to hide his face. Her giggle was silent, but he heard it all the same.

He sat down across from them on his recliner. Neo looked between him and the new couple and hopped over the sofa before crashing into Roman's lap. He buffeted, grunting momentarily just as Neo wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled into his chest.

Emerald and Mercury shared a glance before staring at them. "Wait a minute," she began, "you're actually dating? I was just joking back there."

Roman waved a hand dismissively. "We're just sleeping together, kiddo. Nothing serious."

_Oof!_

Neo punched him in the gut, pouting up at him. He laughed through the pain.

"We're very serious," he corrected. "We're eloping and she's having my baby."

_Ack!_

He laughed again, placing a hand on Neo's head so she'd stop pouting. "We're going steady and now is not the time that we should be thinking of taking it any further than that."

She nodded firmly, nursing his sore gut.

Curious, Mercury spoke. "Roman, not that I care or anything but… why are _you_ of all people taking things slow?"

"Your boss makes it hard to consider a future when whatever she's got planned might very well end them abruptly. I'd rather prepare for anything untimely than waste my time wanting something that might never come. We need to _secure_ a future first." His serious tone made Neo worry, so she buried her face in his chest against, fingers deftly pressing against his outline, promising something for tonight. She wasn't supposed to do this with other people present, but her Cheshire grin told him that she wanted to tease him anyway, if only to ease his tensions.

"Pretty bold, telling us that," Emerald said.

"I'm working for your boss already, and she knows she's got me cowed. I wouldn't be working with her otherwise."

"Didn't think you'd admit to being scared of her," Mercury said, brow raised.

His eyes shaded darkly. "It isn't _her_ I'm afraid of. It's what she represents."

Emerald leaned off of Mercury, clutching his leg. "What do you mean?"

"She's the winning side," he said slowly. "I'm sure we're allowed to meander…" he brushed a gentle knuckle over Neo's cheek, "…to _indulge._ But we can't _have._ Nothing's permanent with the Grimm, not even alliances. So at this point, it's survival. Forced to cherish everything we can call our own like we'll lose it." He smiled sadly down at Neo, her mirroring him.

He looked at them with seriousness. "I'm not evil," he laughed at the irony. "In a way I'm just like you two: we just don't care. But we have to now because whether we're criminals or saints, it doesn't matter anymore. The Grimm don't discriminate or align. In the end, they'll kill us all if we hide behind cities. All they need is a Behemoth with a little direction and the walls come down around us."

"The huntsmen out there are clearing them out as much as they can but when those things are spread out in the wilds like that they're… _manageable_ , like a drizzle." He sat back, staring out the window. "But together? When their hordes crash into cities just like at Mount Glenn… they're a _flood_. And you can't stop a flood when the dam breaks. You can only endure it till it passes."

"That won't happen to us," Emerald said firmly. "Cinder… she said she'd protect us from them." Even Mercury felt how weak those words were. Emerald's heart slowed, feeling every beat. Was she losing faith in Cinder already? But how?

She looked up at Roman's piteous eyes as he stared at Neo. His hand was on her leg, clutching it ever so tightly, as if afraid she might vanish. She realized that that was her and Mercury, afraid of the world, clung to frail hopes.

She shook her head. Cinder took her in when no one else would so much as give her a glance. There was no way that she'd leave her. Her faith in Cinder was ironclad!

…Wasn't it?

"You don't seriously believe that, do you?" Emerald was shocked to find that it wasn't Roman who spoke… it was Mercury.

Her eyes narrowed. She turned and sat on her knees. "Whose side are you on?"

He looked to Roman then at her, straight in the eyes. "Yours," he said firmly.

"Bullshit!"

He grabbed her by the upper arms. "Em, listen to me…" He stared her down. She wanted to shake him off but couldn't find it in herself to.

Her hands were drawn to his wrists. "Okay…" she said weakly.

"Cinder isn't the one with all the cards. Maybe she'll do what she can, maybe Roman's full o' shit –"

"I'm still here, y'know!" He went ignored.

"– but we can't depend on them for everything. You don't make it out here without depending on yourself first." He was struggling with himself, words barely spilling from his quivering lips. "When I'm not there I… don't… don't make me lose someone else."

Mercury, for all that he was, bore little faith in Cinder. His life was a cavalcade of torments forged in independence. Emerald, on the other hand, was forced to learn codependency the moment Cinder gave her everything, forced to unlearn self-made strength. Maybe that's why she clung to him now that they've found a safe place in each other because she could draw it from him when she found herself with less. And even if it was sweet, it worried him, _terrified_ him.

Emerald felt that terror, knew how it bore into him because how could they be what they are now if she didn't feel the same things about him.

There was a frailty to him she knew he hid well.

His coquettish behavior, his bravado, they were façades. In reality he was pieces sown together to look normal, barely held together with the sinews of the youth he lost and had been making attempts to recapture. So she knew he wasn't asking her just to be strong for herself.

Because even in the safety of his arms, he can't protect her from everything – especially when he needed protecting too. She shuffled closer. Their heads leaned in, forehead-to-forehead. "Okay…" she whispered. "I hear you. I hear you, ya big idiot." She touched his cheek with a lopsided smile. "Just don't cry, okay?"

"I…" he gasped, gasped again, wheezed, and then laughed.

She laughed too, her eyes glimmering like rubies… for him.

He was breathless. He wanted to kiss her.

Roman coughed. He was standing beside them. His look was somber but then it was soft, almost awed. "Whatever it is you kids have… keep it. When this is all over, it might be all you two have left."

He reached into his coat pocket and tossed something to them. Emerald caught it swiftly.

"Keys to your new apartment," he said. "Cindy doesn't want you two getting caught coming over to visit dear old dad." He popped his collar with a grin. "The address is on the tag. Don't get too rowdy though. I made sure the walls were sound-proof but a shaking bed's still gonna get some attention from your neighbors."

Their eyes narrowed at him. "We're _friends,_ Roman," Emerald said.

"Not for long, you're not." He walked off. Neo reappeared from having hid herself. She was snapping pictures.

Before Roman reached the door, he stopped one last time. "Cindy has big news tonight, by the way. She'll call on the secure line in your living room. Tonight at nine. Don't be late."

"Why not now?" Mercury asked. "We're already here, aren't we?"

"Asked the same thing. Turns out that she isn't certain of it yet, but she's confident that she will by tonight. I recommend cutting loose today. Whatever it is she has to say, it's definitely gonna be turning point around here." He wiped a mock tear. "My kids are gonna have their first big break."

They deadpanned.

"Try to enjoy yourselves till then," he offered. "Who knows when you'll catch another break after tonight."

**[|}.{|]**

The streets of Vale used to upset Emerald. It was her home for a while and back then they were oppressive and cold, but it suddenly wasn't. She thought it might have grown the same resentment in her but it took no stretch of the imagination as to why.

Mercury listened to her as they stalked the rain-soaked street. The lights of Saturday morning were veiled beneath the cloudy skies drowning the city in a held sunrise.

"I used to live on these streets you know?" she said. He peeked over, worried. "It wasn't all bad. There used to be an old lady who took care of me but she wasn't much better off either. She was homeless too. I left her so she didn't have to feed us both."

"Did you see her any since we've been in Vale?" he asked.

"Nope. She's dead now."

"Oh… oh, shit."

"No, no!" She waved her hands. "Don't worry about that. She got into a shelter and made friends with some teenager named Deery. Ended up adopting her into the family. I _was_ there with her on her last day, though. Even made a speech at her funeral."

Sounded like something he should have heard of. "Where did you find the time?" he asked.

"Remember when Cinder gave us a week after we lost track of Amber?"

"Yeah, Cinder threw a fit." He laughed. "Still can't believe Amber teaches our botany class… I'd hate to put her down. She lets me sleep in class."

"She lets you fail tests too." She tittered.

He gave her a half-hearted scowl. "Just get on with it," he said. "So you went to Vale then. How'd you find her though? A lot of people in Vale."

"Have an old friend from the orphanage. Kuroi – doubt you know him – but he goes by Hei now. Anyway, he reached out to me the one time I got on the papers and I've kept in touch ever since. He's apparently a big deal around here so I had him keep an eye on her."

"Must've been lucky that your free time aligned with her last days."

She bit her lip. "Actually, Deery told me that she was fighting to keep herself alive. Kept talking about unfinished business. I think… I think she waited for me. So she wouldn't have any regrets."

He glanced at her, hoping she wasn't sad. Instead she rubbed her arms. It was getting cold. He took off his leather jacket and put it on her.

"Ugh! _Finally_ ," she said. "Took you long enough to notice."

He rolled his eyes. "Want me to take it back?"

"Nah." She trotted ahead just as the sun peeked through the clouds and wind swept through her hair. "How do I look?"

She looked pretty cute.

He snorted. "You look better when you're not _cheating._ Keep the illusions to a minimum or I'll never trust my eyes around you."

The statement scared her a little. It actually got her embarrassed. "Sorry…"

He blinked at her. They were still getting used to how easy that was to say now. "Yeah… don't worry about it."

She fell back in step with him.

He looked her up and down, working off her blush.

Yup, she was still cute.

"Hei… Hei…" he thought out loud. "I think I've heard of the name before."

"He runs a club creatively named _The Club_."

He went quiet. She turned to see and nearly jumped at his panicked look.

"You know Junior!?" he shouted.

"His name is Hei Xiong!"

"Why didn't you tell me you were childhood friends!"

She got worried that he might have gotten jealous. "W-why does that upset you?"

"I could have been getting free drinks! Lost my pocket money to Yang last night. Stupid fucking bet…"

She almost slapped herself for worrying for nothing. "Merc, that's why we're still friends. I'm not a free loader and I don't drink."

"Huh, I almost forgot how you were no fun."

She punched him in the shoulder. "Idiot."

**[|}.{|]**

They ended up at a cemetery. Mercury fathomed a guess as to why they were there.

"What was her name?" he asked as they took the cement walkway, passing rows of headstones that stretched over short hills.

"Genee," she said with reverence. "Genee Sustrai. Even after all these years, she still listed me as her daughter."

"Sustrai wasn't always your last name? What was it before?"

She shrugged. "Does it matter?"

It did to him, apparently. "I like to think you and me can share anything without any worries. Want me to start talking about Marcus? I won't like it, but I'll tell you if you ask."

"You're surprisingly pushy for hardcore killer." She laughed.

"You made me this way. You don't get to complain."

She hummed in agreement. "Tena," she said.

"What?"

"Tena. Emerald Tena. Like _tuna_ , but with an ' _e'._ "

"Oh. Well was that so hard?"

It was, but she'd tell him anything at this point. It felt like there shouldn't be secrets between them anymore. "The memory is just bitter, I guess. I wasn't _actually_ dad's kid. Mom cheated on him. But to him, it didn't matter that I was someone else's kid. He didn't want to see me raised by people who'd sooner leave me on the streets." The irony was apparent. She sighed. "He loved me but I never got to love him. He died on a hunt and my babysitter took me to an orphanage when she got the news. I was three."

"Hm… shame."

 _Was that really all he had to say?_ "Merc, I know you're not used to caring about people but – where did you get that?"

He had a bouquet of white roses. "Back there on a big headstone. It was like one outta o' dozen. Won't be missed, I'm sure."

"Okay… but why do you have it?"

"Figured we might as well pay our respects."

She took them when he offered. "Leave it to you to straddle the line between decent human being and indifferent asshole."

"Hey, if _you_ like me, I can't be _that_ bad."

"That a confession?"

"Depends. Which answer gets me in your pants sooner?"

She thought for a moment. "Hm… neither."

He walked away.

"Mercury!"

**[|}.{|]**

It wasn't that Mercury felt out-of-place so much as he felt… _watched._

The headstone Emerald prayed at was simple but adorned with wreathes that had growing flowers – a marvel of dust application. Through those winking buds came the curious curl of some red roses, and he could have sworn they were blinking at him. Maybe Genee was looking after her adopted daughter from beyond the grave and eying him suspiciously. They weren't even dating and he already felt like the worst kind of guy to take home to your parents.

Emerald stood up with a pleased sigh, dusting off her palazzos. They were mint colored, not very good with dirt, but he could tell that she didn't care when the dirt wouldn't come off.

"She used to grant wishes," she said. "People kept coming over and asked for them but she turned most of them down. Kept saying stuff like they were 'unachievable' or 'not in their future' or whatever."

Mercury interrupted. "So, _naturally_ , you asked for one."

She nodded. "I asked for happiness. Not the regular kind, mind you. I asked for the kind that was permanent. I'd take it to my grave."

"You were an articulate kid, huh?"

She laid a hand on the headstone. "I'm sure what I asked sounded simpler but I just wanted something nice to last forever. That's the gist of it, I guess."

"Did you get your wish?"

"No, not really. Well, not _yet,_ according to her. She said I had to complete three _tasks_ with someone to get what I wanted." She pulled out her scroll and opened up her gallery. "She had it written down on a scrap of paper so I'd remember. I knew I'd lose it at some point so the minute I got a scroll, I took a photo. Hm…" She continued to flit through the pages.

Mercury leaned over and spotted a choice few images of her and everyone else. Some from the recent Girl's Night they had, but then there was him. A lot of him and her. He smiled like an idiot and Emerald noticed. She didn't comment, smiling to herself.

"Oh, here." It was a close-up of some marker writings on cardboard. "Guess it wasn't paper… Okay, so…"

She read it aloud. " _Steal it in the dark, watched by sixteen eyes._ "

"Ick. I hate spiders."

"You think it's spiders? What spider has sixteen eyes?"

"Two of them, Em. _Two_ spiders."

"Oh… that's kinda boring."

"Just read the next one," he said.

" _When captive by moonlight, reach out but do not take._ "

Mercury quirked a lip. "Uh… I don't get it."

"Me neither. When I was a kid I just hoped I'd get lucky and figure it out by accident."

" _At a tower that mimics the voices from afar, have it stolen in its highest chamber._ "

"Mimic voices? Like an echo?"

She shrugged. "I guess. I don't know… This is stupid. Let's just go." She rubbed her eye before it could force a tear. "This place is starting to drum up some bad memories…"

Stowing her scroll away, Emerald led them out of the field.

The old notes were just a means to stall. She was out here, dreading the inevitable so much that she was listless enough to find a cemetery just to find ways to distract herself. When Cinder calls tonight, she'd have to prepare to give everything up. It felt too soon, and she hated how much time she wasted doing near nothing about it but explore a city she hated even more.

She could only tolerate it when she was with _him_.

She glanced back at him, catching Mercury staring at her back. He looked away in embarrassment. Her girlish tittering felt normal, _innocent_. To anyone who might have been looking, it would almost look like they were dating.

"Hey, Merc?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"Are we on a date?"

She caught him off guard, but he deflected it with a smile, stepping forward to loop an arm across her shoulders. "With a safe house, cemetery, and some stolen flowers, I either have the worst idea of a date or you have the weirdest idea of a good time."

"I'm being serious."

He gave her a lopsided smile. "Do you want it to be?"

"Merc, I don't know how much time we'll have left in Vale. While we're here, we can be _normal_. And when you care about each other as much we do, normal people tend to…"

"Date?" he finished for her.

"Yeah… _that_." She shifted to the side, taking the hand he looped around her. She knit her fingers between his. "Can we just be _normal_ for today?"

They were just friends getting along. That's all they were at the moment. Even the kiss on that fateful night wasn't the end-all be-all that sparked a relationship. In fact, it felt strange with her desperately trying to accelerate things, because to Mercury all this meandering in the morning was just to clear their heads about whatever damning thing Cinder had to say.

But he couldn't care less about Cinder if it meant spoiling what he had with Emerald. He was finally happy, _god damn it_ , and he wasn't going to let a race against a clock get to him _or her._

"As much as I'd like to go crazy on you and sweep you off your feet, I'd much rather not think of today like it'll be our last." He pulled away. "We'll still have tomorrow, next week, next _year._ And even though I don't subscribe to any of that shit about taking things slow – don't have the fucking patience for that kind of advice – but I want this to feel _real_ , Em." Their gazes matched as he stepped closer. "And trying to _push_ this? Us? That doesn't feel real to me. And I know for a fact that it doesn't feel real to you."

He reeled when she crashed into his chest, hands clutching him by the shirt. "Can you blame me?" She laughed weakly. "I finally get to feel something after years of _nothing_. Toiling and clambering for Cinder's approval… that wasn't what I even really wanted. I just… I just wanted to feel like someone would _give a_ shit if I died tomorrow or… or…"

She wasn't blind to Cinder's indifference, knew well that her praise held no affection even if it sounded like it. But if she closed her eyes and just _pretended,_ then it felt real.

None of that mattered now though.

She smiled as she looked up at Mercury, because _none of that fucking mattered,_ because he was here to actually give two shits about what she thought, wanted, hated, _loved_.

She didn't cry. It welled but she stifled it. "Fuck, Merc…" She laughed as she pulled away. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were a little sore, but she collected herself quickly, rubbing an eye with the base of her palm. "Y'know, it's kinda funny. If you let me have I wanted, I would've been sleeping with you tonight."

He took her hand with both of his, fingers gliding over the digits as if marveling at her texture. "You're teasing me…" He chuckled. "Are you mad?"

Her free hand took his wrist and curled over his knuckle. "Just a little. Mostly at myself but… I don't know. I kind of wanted to skip to the good part already." She balled his hands together with hers.

Emerald bit her lip and she stared passed it, at the rise and fall of his chest. Her hands slipped out of his as she stepped forward and traced her palms over his chest up to his neck. She stopped at his cheek, staring at his lips.

"Em?" he asked breathlessly, half-lidded eyes watching her carefully.

"Shut up," she whispered. "You riled me up, and now you've gotta pay for it." She kissed his cheek. It was a peck, nothing more, but there was a hunger in her eyes. It was burning, wanting, needing.

She didn't stop. She stepped into his space again, making him stumble a step back, giving her enough time to kiss the corner of his lips. She was so tantalizingly close to throwing him off the edge that Mercury gasped.

Licking her lips, she marveled at the wideness of his eyes, the gap of his lips, stoic visage peeled away by her presence. And the way he looked at her, worshipping her every feature with his eyes… She had never felt so beautiful before in her life.

She pulled away, but Mercury was no coward.

He took her quickly by the waist, lips crashing into hers as his eyes shut.

"Mmm…" she moaned, letting the pressure of his lips linger till it sparked fires in her beating heart. Trembling fingers reached into his hair, taking that long minute to caress it before gripping him with ferocity, pulling closer.

When they parted, their staccato panting filled the space between.

Wordlessly she backed away, taking his hand in hers as they walked off.

"This… this doesn't mean we're dating or anything!" she said.

"Yeah, totally," he said, still lost in his pleased stupor.

"We're just _friends_ …" she clarified.

"With benefits," he added. Her shock fell away at the sight of his cheeky grin.

She bumped into his shoulder, hands still locked. "You're an idiot…"

He pulled her in. "I didn't hear a _no_."


	4. as if tomorrow might never come

In the darkness of their apartment, Emerald sat against the bed's headboard. The light off her scroll flickered before her as a movie played. She shifted when Mercury, who had his head against her stomach, shimmied upwards to get a better look. He was dangerously close to her breasts.

She put a hand in-between to protect herself but with her hand on his head, she got his attention. He looked up but couldn't see passed her chest. She flushed when she realized this and he laughed it off. Promptly, flicked his nose.

Settling comfortably back into place, Emerald tore her eyes away from her flashing scroll. "Hold it for me," she said.

With Mercury's warmth blooming over her, she allowed herself to relax once more as her discreet hands slid into his hair.

It was strange, having her own place. Not because she had to share it with Mercury or that she'd never owned her own space before, but only that she was not accustomed to comfort like this.

She wore a loose spaghetti strap shirt that was so worn that it had softened every edge, had tiny ignorable holes, and its colors were so faded that it almost looked bleached. So it felt like she'd owned it forever. It was somehow familiar that way, as if it was woven over her skin specifically. Of course the worn clothes were to lend to their authenticity – she could thank Roman for that – but it was starting to fool her too in pleasant ways.

Her hands rung through Mercury's hair, softly, delicately, almost afraid she'd get his attention and get him to ask why. But if poised with the question? Well, she wouldn't have an answer. As it stood she just wanted to do it, to revel in it all. The apartment, the clothes, the bed, the movie, the darkness and its quiet, his warmth and all of _him_.

She didn't want it to end, but the idea that it'd all amount to memories come the morning passed Cinder's call sent her mood plummeting.

"Hey," Merc said. He was staring at her. She nearly allowed herself to wave it off, but she knew that it would have been wasted effort given that he'd known her long enough to paint her with every shade of her heart down to her tiniest imperfection. Sadness included, even if she hid it.

She knew what he was going to do. Her arms opened before he reached for her, holding tight and against the headboard. Her legs curled up from lying flat against the bed, bending towards him as if to cradle him in all that she physically could.

They slid down onto the mattress until they were flat on it and on their side. They were balled together, with one of Emerald's legs slung over his waist. Their noses touched.

Between them, Emerald's scroll rang.

Mercury picked it up and let it go to video call. Yang flashed onto the screen, she was walking down the hallways of the dorms. They could barely make out some of the others around her. Somehow, Nora in the background spotted them and winked.

"Ooh, hey you two!" Yang teased. "Oh, wait, where are you guys?"

"New apartment," Emerald explained.

"Cleared the lease this morning," Mercury added. "And no, we aren't telling you where we are."

"Uh… you guys _do_ know our scrolls have trackers, right?"

"I… _Shit_ ," Mercury pouted.

Emerald smiled, taking the scroll from him, getting up and away. He missed her warmth when she was gone. "So why'd you call?" she asked.

"Hey, no way, sister," Yang said, "you two were in bed together. You aren't getting away that easily."

Emerald rolled her eyes with a chuckle. "We just cuddle now. No big deal."

"You don't see me cuddling up with Ruby and she's my _cousin_."

"Your point? Me and Merc are just comfortable that way."

Yang seemed to stare at her loose strap hung off her shoulder. "Right. Still doesn't explain why you're barely dressed."

"So? He's already seen me naked." They bathed in a river a lot. They didn't care back then.

"I have!" Mercury said from across the room.

Yang was skeptical. "You sure you aren't dating?"

"Well, we _did_ go on a date just now. Technically speaking."

"What date's _technical_?"

"When it looks like one but wasn't planned to be?" Emerald shrugged.

"Uhuh… So, what, you two had dinner or something?" They had hotdogs on the way to the cemetery. "Strolled through the park?" They actively avoided it. "Maybe a little kiss at the end?" Yang was only teasing but Emerald's pause was answer enough. "Oh my god, you did!" Yang cheered.

Someone off-screen asked something. "Em and Merc made out!" Yang answered.

" _What!?_ " that someone shouted.

Emerald was getting tired of the shenanigans. "Can we cut to the chase here? You called for a reason and it wasn't to get on my ass about how I treat my friends."

"How you treat your friends?" Yang almost laughed. "Would you cuddle with _me_?"

"I wouldn't care either way." Emerald felt Mercury's glare before she saw it. "But, uh… Mercury won't let me." He smiled triumphantly like the petulant brat he was. She thought it was endearing in an annoyingly possessive kind of way.

"Ha!" Yang cheered. "Anyway, yeah, we're having a party at a hotel room today at two. Penthouse at a place called _Couture_ or something." Weiss nodded in the background, impressed that she remembered. "Pyrrha's agent was in town to clear up some rumors about her getting a boyfriend. They had dinner together. Jaune included. It was a beautiful mess. Blake has videos."

"Gimme."

Yang held up the camera till Blake was in screen behind her. "When you get back," she promised.

"So," Yang continued, "her agent, Auburn, was so happy for her that she decided to rent them the room. They have it for the week but they decided to at least spend the first day with all of _us_." The three teams cheered. "We'll have the rest of the day together. Up for it?"

Emerald wasn't opposed to it. "Sure, I'll go." She couldn't speak for Mercury, but she didn't need to.

He walked over with two beers in hand, waggling them at the screen. "You're on, Xiao Long. I'll beat you this time and get my damn money back!"

**[|}.{|]**

Out on the streets, Emerald didn't think she'd ever walk the streets with an actual purse. Normally, it served as a means for her cover or a discreet way to hide contraband. The fact that she was now wearing it just to hold lien almost made her feel like she was undercover again.

Mercury went with a biker look cause Roman left aviators in his closet and the idiot thought it would be a great idea to wear it as an ensemble. Beside him in her little denim hot pants, Emerald almost looked like his date, especially with him smiling down at her.

"What are you staring at?" she asked him.

"You, obviously. You can look pretty hot when you try." He was taunting her, it was clear on his wide perfectly punchable teeth.

Emerald preferred not to take the bait. "So what am I like every other time?"

He failed to tease her. Might as well concede and be honest. "Hm… Cute."

"Hm… flattery will get you nowhere, Merc." She sauntered ahead, hoping he was looking down. She didn't know if she ever really gave Mercury a rise since the kiss they shared bore more passion than lust and this likely didn't do much. Which went against everything she knew about relationships and flirting. Getting hot and heavy was supposed to be part of the package, but were they really just platonic deep down?

The idea of not progressing her relationship with him felt… well, _sad_ didn't quite surmise it. It felt more _damning._ Not that she felt like her life would be over without it, just that it felt like there was nothing else to work towards while she was still in Beacon. Grades and friendships were expected, even Jaune and Pyrrha's relationship was predictable, but her and Mercury were an enigma.

She leaned into him and held his hand.

"Oh," he said, "we doing _this_ now?"

"Shut up," she said quietly, only very slightly embarrassed. "I just want to test something."

Earlier she kissed him on the cheek and teased him by going again for the side of his lip. She hadn't expected him to lose it and just _take her,_ but she didn't protest. In fact, she quite liked it. Wanted more. She bit her lip.

"Hey, Merc?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you just wanna sleep with me or is this actually going somewhere?" She looked up at him, her askance stare boring into him. Mercury's wide eyes told her that he was currently on red alert. She giggled to diffuse him. "Don't lose your head over it. I just think we should think about it."

Mercury wanted to search his heart but he'd stopped using the damn thing to think since his fight with Emerald earlier in the year. He just went with instinct now, doing what felt right, acting on what he wanted. Kissing her was part of that, but what it meant… "I think I want to protect you," he said, finally. "I think I like having you around. You're fun, even if you can get pretty cheeky with me. Whatever that means in the end… if I said I loved you or just wanted keep things casual, I'm… _afraid_ that I won't know if I was lying or not."

"What about all the flirting? Doesn't that mean anything?"

"I'm just teasing… I know you won't take me too seriously since things have cleared up between us."

She liked that somehow. It felt… comfortable. She smiled. "Even about getting in my pants?"

"Yes," he said firmly. Her smile fell when he stared down at her. He wanted to let something out, to let himself be vulnerable with her. Because if he couldn't do it with her, then who else could have been? "Marcus mostly beat the sex drive out of me," he admitted. "I wasn't allowed to look at the barmaids or to make friends with girls or _anyone_ in the market. One time I snuck out to sleep with a cute shopkeep but not only could I not get it up and ended up ruining the night, Marcus later made sure I never tried something like that again."

Her hand squeezed his. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Hm…" he intoned affirmatively. "I wonder, sometimes, what it would have been like if I just… _ran away_. Maybe I might have been normal. Hell, I might have been able to keep my semblance or married the shopkeeper… Or maybe Marcus might have hunted me down when he inevitably joined up with Cinder."

"Does thinking about it keep you up at night?"

"Not as much as it used to. All things considered, I think I might be happier where I _am_ rather than where I could have been."

"Really?" she asked. "You could have been normal. Maybe have been huntsman at some point. You might have even come out the other end _not_ as an asshole." She mused at that. "Hmm… the possibilities."

He nudged. "I would have been weak though. I don't I would have ever gotten strong enough to beat Marcus otherwise." His mood shifted, lost in his thoughts. Absently she looped around his arm. "I didn't expect to win that fight with Marcus. I was just fed up with it all. Was tired of the beatings, the abuse… still miss my fucking legs…" She held tighter. "Then he just went down. It happened so quickly that I could hardly believe it."

He turned to her and saw her frowning. "What's with the long face?"

" _You_ , you idiot! You had me worried about you again." She pouted.

On instinct, he kissed her forehead affectionately. She huffed.

Their scrolls buzzed. Mercury pulled his out and grimaced as he read the message. "We've got a job."

"Where?"

"A place called Tukson's Book Trade."

**[|}.{|]**

The bookstore was closed. Blinds shut, more than the knob held the door if the chain they heard jingle had anything to say about it. Tukson was not expecting customers, but it looked like he was expecting unsavory guests. He was in a hurry to close and go.

"Think he left already?" Emerald asked.

"No clue, but we gotta check all our bases if we don't wanna get on Adam's bad side. Let's head to the back." He led the way.

"Since when do you care about what Adam thinks?"

"I don't care what he thinks, I just don't want him bitching when we come back empty-handed."

As they were halfway around the shop, they heard something heavy buckle against a truck bed.

They shared a look before sprinting to the back alley. Emerald was a step behind, staying hidden.

When they rounded the corner, they spotted a truck being loaded. Emerald slid into the front of the truck, crouched low. Mercury stuck to the flank, moving ahead.

Tukson, who had his back turned, didn't see or hear either of them as he busied himself. Mercury wanted to confront him first. He couldn't bring himself to kill him outright.

A book fell off a box behind the truck. A mop of ginger hair poked out to grab it. A mousy little deer faunus looked up quickly and screamed when she saw him.

Mercury panicked and tried to dash to her but Tukson acted quickly, leaping off the side of the truck and slamming him into the wall, forearm pressed against his neck.

"Adam's sending humans now?" Tukson scoffed. "If he's sending a kid too then he must be desperate." He eased the choke. Mercury scowled up at him in defiance still. "Look here, Adam would sooner kill a runt like you instead of passing you his pocket money – oof!" Mercury kicked him in the gut, sending him crashing into the truck's side.

"I'm top billing," he breathed, nursing his neck. "I don't get paid in chump change. Don't lump me in with the rookies."

Tukson readied to lunge, body lurched and tense, but then he heard the woman scream again. He turned in panic to find Emerald grabbing the deer faunus in a choke hold, hand over her mouth. "We're only here for _you_ ," Emerald said. "Don't put her life on the line."

"If she stays in the White Fang, she might as well be dead!" Tukson shouted but neither Emerald nor Mercury were budging. The fight in him died quickly.

He knelt, panic welling in the woman's eyes as she struggled against Emerald. It was futile.

Tukson resigned to his fate as if he was entirely expecting it. With his hands behind his head, he was vulnerable. Just one good shot to his chest and it'd all be over. Mercury knew he had no aura. It'd be even easier than he expected.

So why was he hesitating?

"Make it quick, alright?" Tukson said. He glanced at the girl. "And-and let the girl go! She doesn't need to see this…"

Emerald's grip slacked. Adrenaline was pumping through her but as it settled, so did her senses. She'd done things like this a hundred times before, and even if they weren't all easy to do whenever someone put up a fight, they were at least easy to accept because putting down a target was little more than her day job.

And yet…

She matched eyes with Mercury. He bore that same uncertainty. That _unwillingness._ Somehow that was all she needed.

To Tukson's surprise, Emerald let go of her. She shouldn't have, but she did.

The woman didn't run away. Instead she fell onto to Tukson's side, holding him protectively. "Please!" she begged. "Don't do this!"

Mercury glanced up at Emerald, her expression resigned, and he knew what he had to do. He leaned down and pulled up his pant leg, revealing his metallic leg. He reached into a chamber and pulled out a looped bandolier filled with dust shells. "Just so we're clear, you didn't see _either_ of us." He walked passed them.

They blinked at him. Dumbfounded.

Mercury opened the backdoor to the shop and tossed it in. With a kick of his other leg, the shells exploded, scattering flames across the wooden floors and walls.

Emerald stood before them. "Get up."

They did so slowly. She snarled but calmed herself with a sigh. "Take nothing with you that you can't keep in your pockets," she instructed. "Travel light until you're out of the city. And for god's sake, leave the damn continent!"

They nodded.

Emerald spotted a pen in Tukson's pocket and pulled it out. "Come with me."

She brought him to the door and slashed his forearm but he stifled his pain with a rough grunt. The faunus woman gasped.

Emerald checked the blood splatter on the door knob. "Hm… okay, good. Now grab it and drag your hand down." He did so, leaving a trail. Then she deliberately slammed the door against the opposite wall. She needed to simulate Tukson reaching the door, failing and dying at it just as his assailant left in a hurry.

"Fire Dust will burn this place to the ground but the police will figure out that you might be alive. You have to be out of Sanus before then. Got it?"

He nodded quickly, waiting just a bit as the woman wrapped his arm up with a cloth. She was a medic, or a nurse, or something. They'd keep alive somehow.

Emerald tossed the pen into the truck bed where Mercury had left his last bandolier. With one last shell in the chamber, he raised a leg. "You better get going. This is gonna get real messy."

They ran off, Emerald walking down the alley and behind Mercury.

He kicked, the truck going up in flames. The metal heated and bent, collapsing inward. It was high-grade dust too. No doubt the police will suspect the White Fang with their stolen SDC Dust. Hopefully that didn't mean they'd get caught up in it all.

People were shouting in the distance. They were starting to take notice.

**[|}.{|]**

Minutes later, Mercury and Emerald appeared behind a gawking crowd and decidedly walked off.

"Did we really just do that?" he asked.

"Yeah… we did…"

"Adam's gonna get real pissy when he finds out. Doesn't matter if he doesn't figure out Tukson's alive. A fire's not discreet."

"Cinder's not gonna be happy about this either," she added. "Adam's going to bring it up with her."

"Do you regret it?"

"Yes," she said quietly. Mercury wasn't expecting that. She took his hand. "This puts us in danger." She squeezed. "I don't want to lose you because of this. I don't… I don't want this to be where it all ends…"

He stopped to hold her close. She didn't cry, only yelling silently into his chest as he stared up at the sky, his hand on her head.

A reporter snapped a photo.


	5. Need me like lifeblood,

They arrived late to the party. Jaune greeted them at the door but chose not to ask where they'd been or why Mercury had a spot of soot at the back of his neck. They didn't know if he thought they were in some trouble or were embarrassed about their romantic escapades. It was likely the latter, but they were too tense to settle with the idea comfortably. Consequently, they decided that maybe they should mingle with the others so they could get their minds off things. This meant that Mercury was busy helping Jaune and Sun at the barbecue, while she sat in the living room at the squared sofas with Blake, Nora, and Ren.

Nora seemed the most ready to erupt gleefully as she stared at Emerald from her spot beside Ren. Blake glanced up from her book to spy her. Ren, somehow, made her the most nervous by completely ignoring her and everyone else, scroll in hand.

Emerald stayed pensive and silent, feeling the eyes on her. She swallowed, allaying her other, more prodding worries in favor of the peanut gallery. Which made her chuckle just a smidge, because Cinder and Adam were afterthoughts here, footnotes to the inevitable. The inevitability was harsh, yes – daunting even – but this? They were watching her so she could pour them a hot cup of gossip. It was juvenile, childish… normal. Comforting.

She let her heart burn her cheeks as she thought back to when she kissed Mercury, alighting her heart and banishing the gloom. " _Fine_ , you idiots, I'll tell you."

Nora cheered and shimmied closer. Ruby came out of nowhere and sat beside her. Blake squeezed in next to Ruby, grumbling at how quickly her seat was taken. And Ren? Well, he hadn't turned the page in a while and he _was_ leaning in a little more than he was earlier.

**[|}.{|]**

While Jaune was busy showing off to Pyrrha at the grill, Sun was distractedly working on the patties. He wasn't really _present_ though. He'd nearly burnt a few patties and almost flipped something Jaune was already seasoning – and, mind you, was on the grill _beside_ him. Mercury, thankfully, stepped in on that.

Sun never noticed, so Mercury bumped into him. "Oh, hey, what's up?"

Mercury pointed his spatula at him. "You're not paying attention. Normally, I wouldn't give a shit but the longer I'm here, the longer I'm not with Emerald."

Sun laughed. He knew that Mercury's hard exterior was little more than a façade at this point. The old him wouldn't have cared either way, he also wouldn't have openly admitted to needing Emerald at his side. Funny how having a heart changes a person. In the end, his standoffish attitude was just part of his rough charm.

"I'm just worried about Neptune." He pointed to him and Weiss at the other end of the wide balcony. She was teaching him how to dance. He kept twisting his legs together.

Mercury raised a brow. "He's nimble in a fight but has two left feet?"

"Nervous tick from his past. His footwork locks up sometimes when he hears some old songs they used to play at the orphanage I grew up in. Some girl he danced with said he was terrible."

"And it stuck?"

Sun hid the fact that he enjoyed Mercury taking an interest this. "Well, I guess it didn't help that I made fun of him a lot."

"Hmph, and I thought _I_ was a bad friend." Mercury felt a part of him winge, hoping Emerald didn't think that way. He was okay with being less than stellar with everyone else – which he wasn't, not anymore at least – but he couldn't stand the idea of her hating any part of him now.

"I was a dumb kid," Sun said. "Didn't _you_ do stupid things as a kid?"

Mercury shifted his legs, feeling the weight of their cold metal press against what was left of him down there. "Some of the worst," he said, laughing easily.

The echo of his sordid past didn't resonate. It rang only once, a flash of some distant memory, but it was gone in the next. Instead he was here in the present, lingering only on the now and what might come, not what was.

"So what did you do?" Sun asked.

"What?"

"Dumb things you've done."

Mercury glanced at the grill. "Well, I _did_ just let you burn the patties."

"W-what!?" He looked down in shock, only to find the patties unburnt. Mercury had been flipping them on instinct. "Ha, ha, you're an ass."

Mercury smiled. He decided that he'd probably get along with Sun.

"So what's up with you and Emerald?"

Maybe not.

"We're friends," he said quickly.

"Who cuddle?"

"The nights can get cold."

"And the kissing?"

"How did–!?"

Sun waggled his scroll which he'd been holding in his other hand. "Blake tells me everything. Turns out, your girl spilled."

"She's not _my girl._ "

"And if someone went for her and she said, 'yes'?"

With a confidence to rival the moon, he said, "She _wouldn't._ "

Sun grinned. "Because she has _you_."

Mercury sighed, exasperatedly. "Are we _really_ getting into this?"

"Can't help but be curious. You guys are basically dating as it is. Why not make it official?"

"Because labels are stupid and we don't need it."

"Love doesn't have to be complicated, man."

"It isn't," Mercury said easily, lost somewhere in the crackling embers dancing out of the grill below him. "What me and Em have… What we have or haven't done together is something else entirely. What matters with how I feel about her is just that I feel anything at all. Maybe where _you_ come from, behind the comfort of the walls, you feel like these things need to explained or quantified. Me? I don't. She's had my back, I've had hers, and that's enough. I care about her. And maybe I could say that I love her but… words are just words. It's easy to say you love someone. It's another thing to mean it." And he didn't know if he did yet.

"Merc…" Sun said slowly, "…that just sounds like you're in love with her." He smiled.

Maybe he was.

"Hey, Sun?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Food's actually burning this time."

"Oh, what – !" They weren't. Mercury had even moved them onto a serving platter. Sun laughed it off.

Okay, maybe he _could_ get along with Sun.

**[|}.{|]**

By nightfall, a congregation sat on the squared sofas. There was a movie playing but no one was paying attention. Because passed the widescreen was the wide balcony that ran the length of the floor, and leant against it were Mercury and Emerald.

Collectively, their honed gaze was normally meant for combat scrutiny, watching tiny movements from their opponent that indicated an advance or the direction of an attack, but here those synapses fired on awkward, hesitant body language. And it wasn't that they were watching for the off chance one sparks between budding couple, it was just that there were _so many_ that all they were doing at this point was cataloging it.

…

"He keeps trying to inch his hand closer," Sun said with grit teeth. "Just take it, damn it!"

Blake would have looked shocked at her boyfriend's uncharacteristic outburst if she wasn't leaning in with him with the same frustration painted on her face. "Her fingers are twitching. She wants to do it, too."

…

"That's some grade-A eye contact," Yang said. She leaned and squinted. "I don't even think he's blinked!"

"She's totally checking him out though," Ruby said, watching Emerald bite her lip and look him up and down. Her eyes lingered beneath the belt. She laughed. "I think Emerald's finding out that there are places more south than Vale."

…

Emerald leaned back against the railing, but it was low she had to arch her spine lazily.

"Ooh, bold," Weiss commented.

Neptune whistled. "I know. Showing off her chest like that is a little explicit." He glanced at Weiss's chest.

"H-hey!" She covered herself up.

Sun laughed. "Don't worry. He likes them smaller."

They shrieked in embarrassment at him.

"If only you two were so modest in the bedroom," Blake said, "maybe _then_ I'd still have my afternoon naps."

…

Nora cradled her chin in her hands, looking nonplussed while her husband hadn't bothered to look up from his readings off his scroll.

"Renny, should we tell them?" she asked.

"I think we should let them have their fun," he replied. "Since everyone's paired off so quickly, I doubt they'll be able to do this until they have kids of their own to tease." He looked up and spotted a patch of soot at the back of Emerald's thigh. Strange, but he didn't bring it up.

Nora sighed. "You're probably right." She stood up. "Want a drink? I need some pep back in me and I think I'll go overload on soda." Ren got up slowly and walked passed her and towards the kitchen. "Ren?"

He glanced back at their friends, then at Emerald and Mercury, then to her. "They'll be busy for at least an hour at this point." He turned away and continued walking off. "I can imagine a few other things we could be doing to get your spirits back up."

Nora blushed but would not be outdone. She strode passed him with a firm hand on his wrist. They vanished through the door with a soft click and lock.

…

"This is fun," Emerald said, laughing. Her fingers were touching Mercury's on the railing as they stared out at the city. "And _you_ said coming here was a mistake," she teased.

He raised a brow at her, glad that his expression couldn't be seen by their audience with his back turned. "I never said that."

She blinked. "Oh… oh shit, yeah. You _didn't_." There was a sudden wave of pride that got her giddy. "Merc… god, you've grown up so much since we got here."

He didn't know how to respond to that. "Was I really that bad before?"

"We both were," she said easily. "You know, I always felt like I was missing something, y'know? Not the normal shit like affection, validation, completeness, or whatever. I mean something else. Like there's a part of me that I just… ignored. It's there and it creeps up at me, but I kept pushing it down somehow."

"I'm guessing this is the part where you tell me you've found it?"

"I wish." She laughed it off, but she dallied not at what could have been but what was. Her fingers fit between the gaps of his, splayed out and rubbing affectionately. "But… I do think I've actually started looking this time."

"You telling me _I_ did that?"

"I think we both deserve credit for that. I guess it comes with finally looking at _myself_ for what to better instead of looking at someone else for what to become." Emerald watched Mercury and all the scars he held in his sleeve, the torments lingering beneath walls of iron that only she was allowed to walk through. She let herself be drawn into it, inching closer as more of his worse parts withered under her smile, and the affections that left no room for lies.

Shoulder-to-shoulder, they could hear the crowd behind them _whoop_ , but they ignored it when her head rested on his shoulder. The affection was honest, the staged performance lost somewhere in the heart-to-heart.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"Any part of you that feels… missing?"

He glanced down at himself. "My legs."

She punched him in the shoulder. "You ass."

They laughed.

**[|}.{|]**

There was a knock at the front door.

"I'll get it!" Ruby said quickly.

"The fuck?" Mercury said. Everyone stared at him. "Guys, it's an _elevator._ The doors open themselves and you don't _knock_!"

They heard the metal doors being wrenched open. Ruby grunted when something tackled her to the floor. They would have panicked had Jaune not calmly walked into the room and greeted, "Penny!"

"Salutations, friend-Jaune!"

He was subsequently tackled as well, but being prepared for it, he took it with a skid, nearly losing his footing. When Penny let go of him, he did, falling back into the sofa upside down. It was next to Pyrrha. He shot her finger guns in an attempt to make it look dorky but charming. She laughed all the same.

Mercury, Emerald, and Weiss stood up and backed off. This Penny girl, apparently, had a thing for volatile hugs.

Ruby emerged from the other room, still a little shaken. "Guys, this is Penny."

Everyone greeted her with a hearty cheer. "Salutations, friends! I am Penny Polendina. A very normal human girl with very normal knees!"

Emerald slapped a hand across her face. She could tell Ruby had something to do with the _knees_ thing. She didn't much care for the story behind it. What really got her was the fact that she was a new element, and the second-hand embarrassment was more to cover for her building panic. Bizarre new girl would complicate things if they didn't get along.

Penny took stock of the room, head quickly swiveling to each person, but then she stopped at Emerald and Mercury. Her eyes slowly grew wide before she gasped. "Oh, you two!"

Turns out things were already complicated…

Mercury stepped forward to shield her, his instincts flaring. Emerald was tense, nerves locking up as she looked around for a quick exit. Hopefully everyone else would look at it like they were nervous. Not fucking likely given that it was them and a stranger, but a girl could dream.

"You know them?" Ruby asked.

"Yes!" Penny clapped her hands and ran – not to _them_ – but to the widescreen. She pulled out an unusual scroll and had it project onto it. "They're viral!" she cheered as an image of Emerald and Mercury comforting each other behind the blurred backdrop of something burning flashed before them. "Analytics show that the photo has garnered more attention than the article it was attached to."

Yang whistled. "Ha! You're famous!"

"They remain anonymous," Penny corrected proudly with a smile that never wavered, "but – statistically speaking – likely not for long. An anonymous source has already identified them as students from Beacon Academy."

Ren didn't think much of it. It was likely another classmate at the scene. What really bothered him, however, was the flare of the blurred background. "Is that a fire?" he asked.

"Correct!"

"Where?" Blake asked.

"Tukson's Book Trade," Penny said.

Blake gasped. Sun took to her side as she sat down slowly.

"Fear not, friend-Blake! It is likely that the proprietor has survived the fire."

Blake dared to hope. "How… how do you know that?"

"It is according to the initial police report to their ongoing investigation!"

Weiss blinked at Penny. "Isn't that confidential?"

"Yes."

Weiss's brow furrowed. "Then how did you read it?"

Penny paused. It didn't show on her face but it almost felt like the first sign of panic. "What?" she asked, but not really like a question. She kept her tone, making it sound like statement.

"The police report."

"I don't believe I understand what you're saying, friend-Weiss."

Weiss almost felt defeated, ready to scream, but instead she turned to Ruby with a look that was steadfast against what was clearly going to be a headache for later. "Why does she know all of our names already!?"

Ruby and Jaune scrambled to Penny. They rambled, trying to defend their strange new friend.

Most of them believed that there was likely a harmless explanation behind it all but let Weiss and Blake roast Jaune and Ruby anyway.

Meanwhile, Yang spared a glance at Emerald and Mercury. Her smile fell. They were listless.

"Merc? Em?" she asked but they couldn't hear her passed the rancor.

There was a noise buzzing in their heads, undulating with the beat of their hearts as the still image exposed them to the public eye, making them vulnerable. They had gotten the attention of the press, a dozen or so eyes at the crime scene suddenly erupted into a thousand. It would be millions when the morning came, an overnight sensation that – even if it died out before the week ended – would still make them recognizable on the street.

They held hands.

Their scrolls buzzed. A shrill panic ran through them but Emerald was the first to shake it off as she pulled out her scroll.

It was Roman, but that didn't make it any easier. The message read, " _Get home, kiddies. It's 8:30 and Mom won't like it if you're out passed curfew_."

They cursed before trying to make for the elevator.

"Whoa, wait! Where are you guys going?" Sun called out to them. They paused, trying to find the words to surmise their urgency.

Yang stepped in front of them. "Go. I won't pry and neither should any of us. You owe us explanations but not now." She didn't even let them thank her. " _Go!_ " she shouted.

The room fell silent as the two took the elevator. The sound of its pulleys humming filled the room.

Yang watched them go. As much as she vowed not to intrude on their lives, she was getting kind of tired of all the secrets. As far as she knew, Mercury and Emerald didn't have parents or an inheritance. They were huntsmen in the wilds whose reputation got them into Beacon. _That_ part didn't have holes, but everything else?

It didn't matter how well they did out in the wilds. Licensed huntsmen were lavishly paid by the Council, but if one didn't have a license then they depended entirely on the generosity of the poor settlements that hired them, and they normally didn't pay in lien. They provided services and resources for the most part, smithing, supplies, clothes. Yet, somehow, Mercury and Emerald could now afford an apartment on those same wages.

Ren knew it too, having been an unlicensed huntsman to get into Beacon the same way. He shared a look with Yang and knew she felt the same way. Maybe it was time they all stopped having big secrets.

**[|}.{|]**

Mercury and Emerald practically tore through the elevator door of their apartment complex and sprinted down the halls to their room. Their footfalls resonated over the mostly empty corridors, thumping in the silence to the beat of their hearts. Once they turned to the last corner and spotted their door, they made a dash for it. It was then that they realized that they had been racing each other, because they had minutes left to spare and they hadn't stopped defying Cinder's looming dominance over their lives.

The door swung open before they approached. They skidded to halt, Mercury having to slide first before he sat on his rear and stared up at the eccentric man who walked out of their room. Roman Torchwick spared them a smile. "You have about five minutes. Maybe use that time to catch your breath." He extended his cane that Mercury took to get up.

Neo emerged from the other end of the hall, exiting her illusion. She waved at them.

Emerald stomped forward and held out her hand as if expecting to be given something. "I'm glad you were trying to cover for us but I'm going to need that spare key." She stared him down but her eyes more pleaded than demanded. "Please."

"Ha!" Roman jeered, Neo laughing silently aside. "No keys, kiddo. I _earned_ the title of Vale's master thief." They walked off, vanishing in an illusion.

Once inside, they didn't bother turning on the lights. In the light they felt… exposed. It didn't make sense but the darkness somehow felt comforting, even as they sat together by the old telephone that was their secure line to Cinder.

The moments alone together were tense. Emerald found herself shimmied close to Mercury. His hand found her waist, fingers pressed softly on her naked midriff. It was almost possessive, protective, but one glance revealed that it was compounded by fear and a resolute anger. He was unwilling to surrender her, but worried he'd lose her to Cinder still.

She pecked his cheek to calm his nerves. She couldn't admit that it was as much for him as it was for her.

"Em?"

"Feeling better?"

"Y-yeah."

The phone rang. When they picked it up, the massive television in the room flashed, alighting the dark as if to invade their comfort zone. In the corners of the room behind it, two cameras emerged from recesses in the walls, fixing themselves onto the two. After a bit of static and some held breaths, Cinder was on screen.

"Mercury…" she began. "Emerald…" Her tongue lingered on the words, tasting every syllable with her venomed tongue that sat beneath her coquettish smile. "I've missed you both so terribly."

Their hearts stopped. The widescreen made her look titanic, especially with close up shot. The cameras were additional eyes, trying very poorly to hide because of course it was part of her scare tactics to keep them under her control. Intimidation by design.

"It's good to see you again," Emerald managed to say.

Sporting nonchalance he didn't have, Mercury pulled Emerald in and smiled at Cinder. "Wish you could have given us a minute longer though."

"Oh my," Cinder laughed, "you two have certainly gotten close."

Mercury knew that sitting so close to Emerald meant that he couldn't hide their budding relationship, whatever it amounted to. All he could do was mask it as something that they weren't trying to hide from her. If only Emerald caught on, because in her fear-addled mind, she'd tried to peel away from him in embarrassment.

Luckily, Cinder only thought it amusing. "How cute. I hope this hasn't stifled your duties any."

"N-none, ma'am," Emerald said, calming down, resigned in her position next to Mercury. "We've monitored Beacon closely. Would you like our report on the CCTs weaknesses?"

"Not tonight, Emerald. I'm here to provide your next instructions."

"Oh?"

Cinder watched them for a moment, letting the silence sit as she fiddled with something below her and off-screen.

Mercury's hand was tighter on her waist.

Instinctively, Emerald leaned into him.

"As you know, this year Beacon will be hosting the Vytal Festival tournament, with Shade to follow in your third year." _Third year?_ "Whether or not you participate in the tournament this year is up to you both. You _will_ ,however, be required to get acquainted with our guests from Vacuo. Use whatever means you deem necessary. All I require is that you construct a rapport with them so we will have connections to the Academy that may prove useful in the future."

They blinked at her. _The future? Their third year?_

"You two seem confused." Cinder looked genuinely surprised.

"Um… yeah," Mercury said. "What about our plans _this_ year? With Vale?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Of course they didn't know, she hadn't told them. Cinder smiled, she intentionally wanted to see them squirm. "Since Amber is under strict surveillance, we are delaying our plans until your third year at Beacon. In the meantime, I hope either one of you has had the forethought to get close to your headmaster?"

She had hoped to cow them but suddenly their fears were allayed. Cinder didn't need them to turn over the city. They didn't have to give it all up just yet, didn't have to turn their backs on this life and everyone in it. It was bittersweet, yes, but the future could wait. There was now and whatever that came in the errant things that came can wait.

"Not yet, ma'am," Emerald said quickly, brimming with newfound confidence. "We've been building connections with the heir of the Belladonna house and the former heir to the Schnees."

"Is that so?"

Mercury smiled. "We're also on a first name basis with Qrow Branwen's daughter."

"My, my. You two have certainly been busy." Cinder was pleased, _pleased._ And even though it didn't spark the same sense of accomplishment in Emerald that it used to, it instead bore palpable relief. Her heart didn't feel like it was cast in iron, set to drown at sea. It was afloat, breathing easily.

"I believe that will be all then. You have your instructions and I expect a report once the tournament is over."

They nodded. Faces stern.

"Oh, and congratulations on your fifteen minutes of fame. Maybe you can spin this to our advantage, hm? I look forward to your results. I'll contact you both again soon."

The screen shut off and the cameras receded, flooding the room with the dark.

And they felt _happy_.

The implications of whatever Cinder had hinted at fell by the wayside. Instead, all they could think about was the life they could actually get back to, one that was normal, juvenile, and _easy._ One that was _theirs_. It felt like they now had all the time in the world and there were just too many ways to celebrate it.

But making out with their bodies pressed hungrily against the sofa seemed a good place to start. "Mmph!"

There was knock on the door.

"God damn it!" Mercury wailed as he pulled away, his lip bruised. He was finally feeling something here and someone just _had_ to interrupt.

"It's probably Roman," Emerald said. "I'll go get it."

She walked out to the door, adjusting her blouse and slapping the blush off her cheeks. She was more frustrated than embarrassed. If he saw her a little tussled, she'd be sure to give him an earful for what he ruined. Not that she didn't fully intend to rekindle what was happening with Mercury.

The door knocked again and she took the knob and wrenched it open. "Damn it, Roman, if you – _oh._ "

"Roman, eh?" Yang asked, brow raised. "As in, Roman _Torchwick_?"

"I… I… How?"

"Your scrolls have trackers," Ren said from behind. "Not that it mattered. Weiss tracked your address down in minutes since the call earlier today. For surprises. Though we didn't imagine it would be this kind."

"Uh…"

"Em!" Mercury said from the hallway. "What's the hold up? Is he giving you shit or something?" He peeked out, torso exposed and lip still marked. " _Oh._ "

He stared at the crowd of friends in front of Emerald, and judging by the look in Emerald's eyes, he knew they were fucked.

Nora snapped a photo of them both. "Spicy."

"I can explain!" Emerald said, lying.

Blake stepped into the fore. It was then that Emerald realized that the group didn't look angry, just somber. "Emerald, I think it's time that all of us came clean."

Yang put a hand on Emerald's shoulder. " _Us,_ " she said, "that includes you. We're all in this together."

Whatever fear there might have been was replaced with trepidation, but somehow she let it. Maybe it was time to spill their secrets after all. Maybe it was time to let them into her life instead of letting them coast on the surface. Maybe it was okay to have friends.

Pyrrha poked her head out and smiled with the rest of them, light pouring from the hallway behind them into the darkness of their apartment. "May we come in?" she asked.

She turned on the light. "Sure."


	6. as if coveted, treasured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update. This was supposed to be out Wednesday but I got sick. I know I said I'd avoid author's notes but this ought to have been addressed. I'll try to come up with the next update again soon to reach the expected deadline by the 25th.

They gathered in a circle in their living room. With one sofa and too few chairs in the dining room to accommodate everybody, they needed more seats somehow. Luckily, Penny came prepared with enough bean bags. Exactly as many as they needed. Odd. She seemed to get them from nowhere. Also odd.

Though they didn't mind Penny being so helpful, they weren't exactly acquainted. Emerald took stock with Ruby and Jaune's approval of her, Mercury on the other hand could do little to stifle his paranoia.

Eying the TV and the recesses where the cameras came out of, they were worried that the room was bugged. Penny wasn't making it any easier as she trotted to the corners of the room, looking up and down at the walls. They looked to Jaune for answers, he shrugged and told them, "She has her reasons. It'll all make sense, trust me."

They nodded, unconvinced, but he shrugged it off.

Minutes later, Penny had finished her slow lap around the room before standing beside them on the sofa. Before they could ask, she spoke. "All external transmissions have been blockaded. We may divulge our secrets in total secrecy."

"…What?" Mercury asked.

 _External communications?_ Curiously, Emerald pulled out her scroll and found that the signal was indeed dead. "You're shitting me…" She looked up at the girl. "How… how did you do that?"

Penny blinked, giving them the same flat but smiling stare she did earlier when she pretended not to hear Weiss.

"Penny," Ruby said from below, lying on a beanbag next to Yang, "you can tell them. All of them. No more secrets."

"Ah," Penny said before turning to them. She ahem'd before grabbing her head and _taking it off with a god-damn pop._ "Ta-dah! I am an android."

Sat back with the rest of the room in the momentary heart attack, Emerald and Mercury only managed to regroup themselves by the sheer virtue of having seen stranger things. Magic tended to skew your view of the world. "O-oh!" Emerald said, her voice a pitch higher than normal.

"Yeah, fuckin' wow," Mercury added helpfully. "That explains the… _everything._ "

Penny's neck nodded, forgetting that her head being attached would have sold the gesture better. "Thank you for accepting me, friends!"

They hadn't expected it, and they were glad that they didn't. It helped ease the nerves with less eyes fastened on them. Despite the promise of camaraderie, they were nervous still. Determined as they were, it did little to excuse the fact that admitting that they were involved in a plan that might doom the city might not go over well with… any of them.

Their hands wound tight together. It had been like this since they sat down. They had to draw strength from each other, were it weary or artificial. Ironic, given the peppy bot who finally decided to pop her head back on and sat closest to them.

Emerald eyed the congregation. "Are these the kind of secrets we should expecting to hear from all of you?"

"I wouldn't say that," Jaune cautioned, deliberately attempting to be easygoing for their sakes. "Mine's mundane, I'm sure."

Pyrrha laughed. "Oh, I wouldn't say that." Jaune's cheeks reddened.

"Why don't you start?" Ruby asked him. "Might as well break the ice with those photos of yours." She waggled her brow.

Yang leaned in. "Photos?" She looked between Jaune, Ruby, and Pyrrha, and a mountain of wild and maddening thoughts festooned onto her mind, but she held back the dam because Jaune was _laughing_ at her and if he just got it over and done with already she could decide whether or not to strangle him.

"Calm down, Yang," he told her as he pulled out his scroll, glancing up at Penny who hopped over. He didn't always enjoy messing with Yang, he was usually _with_ her on all of that since they'd gotten along, but Ruby and Pyrrha reveled in it so he opted to let them have their fun. When he got to where he needed to in his image gallery, he handed his scroll off to Penny.

The widescreen buzzed to life once more, show the picture of a little blonde girl in a pale blue dress. She was done up in ponytails as she sat on a dining room counter with a moustache drawn in marker.

Mercury deadpanned at the sight of it. "Jaune," he said, "I don't think your seven sisters count as a secret."

"Oh, that's not my sister," Jaune said as he began flitting through more, "that's me."

Mercury had the good sense to first look shocked before he subsequently lost his shit, nearly choking in his laughter. Emerald took photos. A lot of them did. Penny secretly had them duplicated.

**[|}.{|]**

Pyrrha had a pregnancy scare. Not wanting to call her parents or to break the news to Jaune without figuring out what _she_ even wanted to do, she told the only other person she could. That was why her agent, Auburn, showed up the day before. She told Jaune when Auburn helped her calm down.

"It could have been a false positive," Weiss reasoned. "Did you try again?"

"Not since all the commotion started," Pyrrha said. Her hand was folded between Jaune's. They held no fear and seemed positively brimming. "Jaune bought me another test. We'll see about it when this is all over."

"You're not worried?" Emerald asked.

It certainly didn't look like they were. "No," Pyrrha said, "whatever happens, happens."

"But your career…" Mercury said slowly, almost shocked at himself given his genuine concern.

"It's a just job but what we have…" She placed another hand over Jaune's. "This… this can't wait, so it won't."

Nora snorted, the quiet huff going largely unnoticed save for Ren who pulled her in as a response.

**[|}.{|]**

Blake fidgeted. Ruby was supposed to go first but she insisted that it might have been too soon for _her_ secret. So here she was, expected to lay out her heart.

She glanced at Emerald and Mercury who watched her expectantly. She knew whatever they were hiding had to have been big if it involved Roman Torchwick of all people. Still, hers had Adam Taurus. Roman was a thief but her ex was a _terrorist!_

She steeled herself. Inside she was trying to excuse herself just the tiniest bit, anything to give her pause to breathe, because it didn't matter the scale of their secrets or who was involved. It didn't matter the order of the telling either. All that mattered was that they laid themselves bare.

"I… I was a member of the White Fang." Silence. She didn't dare look but she felt the stares and it bore into her. "I left when things were going too far. Protest and reform, that was what my father stood up for when he led it until…"

"Sienna," Sun answered for her. For a breath's length, she stopped to blink at him, but of course he knew. How could he have not?

"Yeah… her and… my ex, Adam."

"Your ex is Adam Taurus…?" Weiss's voice was quiet but audible, skin paler than usual. Neptune was with her all the way, softly clutching her delicate hand.

Blake nodded."He tried to derail an SDC train with passengers still on it. I uncoupled the cars before he could hurt anyone. It wasn't supposed to be like this, but with Sienna turning us militant and Adam losing sight of what we fought for, I finally realized that salvaging what _was_ , was no longer worth it. That's why I left." She paused, staring at the floor and not meeting anyone's eyes. " _Technically_."

Weiss's unease was apparent in her voice. "Technically?"

"Weiss, I won't hurt you and I won't let anyone do the same," she said, eyes pleading. "You're my friend. We're like sisters! Please don't be afraid of me…"

Weiss sat back, stifling her fears, because of course this was no place to have them and this was no time to start doubting her now.

In a remarkable one-eighty, Weiss's eyes narrowed as she sat straight. "I'm sorry," she said firmly. "This is hard for you. I can only imagine what you feel like you might have contributed. My fears aside, I know that you'd only lay a hand on me to shield me from them." Her confidence in her brimmed.

Blake found her center in that, settling the trembling in her gut but there was more to it. Perhaps this might have been enough, to end it here, but it wasn't. She needed to tell them everything.

"So why technically?" Sun asked from beside her.

"Oh, well… I'm part of a splinter faction now. I'm in it with my friend, Ilia. The Gold-White Cross." She realized that it almost sounded made up. "It's a reference to some clash with a lion and white tiger faunus and…" She shook her head. Already passed the hard part, Blake let her mouth run just to ease her nerves.

Sun's tail took her by the waist as he shimmied closer. "Go on, we're all friends here." he said with nonchalance as if her deepest, darkest parts were nothing to be ashamed of. She drew from that proffered strength.

Taking a page from Weiss's book, she sat up and just went for it. "The Cross is the reason why I'm out here in Vale, at Beacon, and not at home. I was sent here to kill Adam." Her stern look gave way to the sea of welcome faces, even at the two estranged weirdos sat at the sofa. She laughed at herself, at the strangeness of it all. "I… I wasn't supposed to make friends." She looked to Sun. "Or fall in love."

He looked away, his smile was bittersweet. "Neither was I."

Blake reeled just a smidge, searching his eyes as hers widened. "…What?"

"I'm a member too," he said, "was sent her to make sure you didn't defect once you found Adam. I was supposed to get close but not… _this_ close." He took her hand, marveled at its texture. He was as calm as still water, unshaken in his confession, but only because he borrowed that fervor from her. "Yang was supposed to be your partner. I intercepted." He looked to the girl in question. "Sorry."

Yang shrugged. "Hey, it worked out. Who am I to complain with a happy ending?"

"Wow," Mercury said aloud. "Two assassins, some parents and a cross-dresser. And we're only five people in."

Emerald wanted to nudge him but she could see it in his eyes that this was him easing into all of this, finding comfort in their own confession to come. Perhaps they all saw it too when they laughed. Ruby even promised to top it, as did Yang.

She settled into her seat comfortably. Well, as comfortably as she could get. Maybe this wouldn't turn out so bad after all.

**[|}.{|]**

When Ren pulled out his scroll for Penny to project on-screen, they expected another cross-dresser. They were wrong.

The married couple locked arms as the image of a baby in a cradle flashed on-screen. "We're parents," he said simply.

The hearts in the room collectively burst.

"That makes four parents," Mercury said. "That's it, right? There's no more of you who couldn't keep it in their pants?"

"Hey," Jaune said, "to be fair: ours ripped." Pyrrha grinned to herself, then blushed, then tried to hide her face, hoping no one saw. Everyone saw.

The images were on slideshow. The child – a boy, apparently – was being taken care of by what looked to be an elderly couple. The woman was half the height of her equally greying husband. There was a concern about them being so old until a video was played.

The baby sat on a chair with the old couple in the background in the kitchen. He stood up and leaned over the edge to look at something. He lost balance. The room gasped when he nearly fell.

Just then, the old man threw his walking stick and the chair jerked to the side, making the baby fall on his back onto the cushion. Then he leaned back and fell the _other_ way. The old woman then dive-bombed for the tiled floor and caught the child off-screen. She stood up a moment later with no notable back issues.

"How?" Neptune asked.

"They were huntsmen," Nora said. "Don't let the wrinkles fool you. They're more nimble than most civies a quarter their age."

The photos continued until there were a few where Nora and Ren were actually with him. Playing in the park, feeding him, giving him toys, and blowing his out his candles with him, puffed cheeks and all.

"How old is he?" Blake asked.

"Almost three," Ren said. "His name is Li Oda Ren, after his grandfather and his uncle."

"Uncle?"

"I had a brother," Nora said, "went missing after he left me at the orphanage. I don't remember much of him, just that he loved me and made sure I was fed. Even at his own expense."

"Oh," Emerald intoned. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." She smiled and looked to the photos. "In loving memory and all."

"Why didn't he stay with you, though?" Sun asked, trying not to sound agitated. Blake knew why and held his arm to ease him. He was an orphan too and he wanted to make sure Nora wasn't just abandoned by some punk who joined a gang or something. He knew it wasn't likely, given how fondly he was remembered, but he couldn't help but think it.

Nora could see it too. When it came to maturing beyond your age, her and Ren were likely the oldest in the room. They'd done enough stupid and learned to do enough right to warrant it. So she smiled that patient smile of hers and quelled the excitable, motherly instinct to squeeze Sun's cheeks for wanting to protect her.

"He was too old," Nora said, finally. "They wouldn't take him in and he didn't want to burden the director. He left to find a job and promised to come back when he made enough lien to keep us both fed."

"Any chance he still might be out there?" Blake asked.

She shook her head. "Doubt it. I've accepted that he's gone and I only hope that he'd gone peacefully. Valkyrie's have a habit of dying in a good fight. Maybe he protected a different kid who wouldn't have made it otherwise. I'll never know the whole story, but I think dreaming all the best ways it could have gone has given me all the peace I've needed."

The hint of pessimism was laced with her bravery to face the likely reality of it all was not lost to them. Nora, somewhere inside, still missed whomever Oda Valkyrie was and would not give herself hope that he was alive. She was resigned. It wasn't perfect, none of them were and neither were their burdens and their own means to cope with them, but perhaps it was enough.

Enough to take a breather while they passed around drinks and honored the name of a man once lost, and the boy who would carry his name in loving memory.

**[|}.{|]**

Neptune fished a ring from his pocket. Weiss pulled one from a necklace in her blouse. "We're engaged."

"Okay, hold up!" Mercury said, standing. "You're all so damn young but _you're_ married, _you're_ maybe pregnant, and now you two are planning ahead!? Why?"

"So father would stop pestering me about suitors he's lined up for me," Weiss explained.

"I thought you were disowned."

Weiss huffed defiantly. "He's just trying to find ways to control me. I may be a loose cannon at this point but fact-of-the-matter is that is that I'm still a Schnee and he'd rather have me under control somehow rather than out freely doing whatever I please."

"Isn't an early marriage a little extreme?" he asked.

"We don't have a choice," Neptune answered, voice low, nigh whispering.

Neptune wore no joy. He seemed more resigned to his fate than anything else. Mercury didn't want to leave that unsaid. "You don't seem too happy with the arrangement. Circumstances aside, I figured you'd be thrilled."

Weiss – and much of the room, really – watched Neptune with concern. She looked him up and down, seeing passed the weak smile and the harrowed tension coiled in his breathing. "I'm… I'm sorry, Neptune. I-I hadn't considered that –!"

"Weiss!" he shouted, grabbing her by the arms to halt her despairing. "Make no mistake, I love you. I do. By whatever will, by whatever powers might be, I would happily marry you any day, any where, regardless of who decided they'd get between us." His sincerity was clear. There was more love in those eyes than she'd ever felt with any suitor, or even her father. Only once in a rare day when her mother was sober did she see that kind of love. Again whenever her sister lay away all pretense and held her close, shielding her, or when Klein was allowed to be alone with her, lending her comfort in all displaced fatherhood he could muster.

"But…" Those eyes darkened, looking away. Weiss wanted to reach out but held back. Not out of fear, but respect for his space. She wanted to hear him out with all of him, not by her coaxing.

"Weiss," he continued, "I know we have to do this. I know that there's no choice and the world isn't perfect, but I swear I'd like to propose to you _again_ someday. Properly. No business, no suitors, and nothing to do with your father. I'll still love you down that aisle. I'll still love you with the days that come after." He held a breath, taking her hand. "I just… I just think you deserve more than a proverbial shotgun wedding by some asshole on another continent. I think you deserve one you planned over a year, with a dress you designed yourself, all of it dreamed up since you were a little girl. Not one hastily cobbled together just to get someone off your back."

Weiss basically crashed into him. "You owe it to me, alright?" she said, eyes squeezed shut as she clutched him tighter and tighter. The crowd couldn't tell if she had tears, but they felt it.

Mercury and Emerald couldn't empathize with it all, their lives were too different, but they shared sympathies all the same. Pyrrha seemed particularly moved as Jaune held her tight in similar fashion. The couples in the room – aside from Penny, Ruby, and Yang who all huddled close – shared loving glances with their partners.

To Mercury, it all seemed an attempt to pry eyes away from the struggling pair and give them some semblance of privacy. And how could they not? Their lives weren't so much loveless as they were filled with too much love, and the invasion of that by anyone who thought they had power over them? It seemed best to find comfort in camaraderie against it.

Then again, maybe they could empathize with it after all. Not in all the same way, but Cinder was ever a hindrance for them. Emerald felt that revelation too, staring up at him and glancing at the blank screen at the other end of the room. But like Neptune, he wouldn't let anyone keep him from protecting her.

No matter the scale or the threat. Come Cinder or Jacques, this circle would endure.

**[|}.{|]**

Without going into Penny again, or jumping ahead to Mercury and Emerald, it looped back to Yang. She nursed her drink as they stared at her. Ruby beside her was bubbling with anticipation, barely contained. If Yang didn't say anything, Ruby might have spilled the beans. So she stood up and took a deep breath. Hoping, silently, that her mother wouldn't be too cross with her sharing the family secret. "I'm the heir to a bandit tribe."

Mercury squinted at her. "Honestly, I can totally see it."

Yang looked at her tightly wound arms and felt embarrassed for agreeing, but shamefully she felt worse for actually having chickened out with _actual_ confession. Looking over the sea of happily expectant faces for her to elaborate on the _wrong thing,_ she steeled herself. "Okay, but I'm also–!"

"–We're magic!" Ruby cheered as she took Yang in the air and they _floated._

Their necks were so craned back that it was a wonder how some of them hadn't fallen out of their seats.

"Excuse me?" Weiss guffawed.

"We're, uh, magic," Yang explained. She slapped a hand to her face. "It'd be easier to show you. Hold out your drinks."

When Mercury took his, he frowned. It had gotten warm. Yang snapped her fingers, a pale blue light flashing out of her digits. Mercury nearly dropped his drink when it instantly cooled. "Neat trick," he complimented, taking a satisfied gulp. "Ah~! What else can you do?"

"Besides fly?" Ruby asked, grinning. Her silver eyes shimmered, appearing to glow brighter and brighter. "Well, I can do this!"

"Ruby, no!" Yang, reflexively, slapped her cousin's head and froze it solid in a chunk of ice that was heavy enough to ground her onto the beanbag below. She landed before Penny could panic, hands over the iceball and had it thaw. Ruby shook her head as she emerged wet and dizzy, but largely unbothered as she giggled.

"I'm sorry," Jaune said, still in disbelief, "but I'm still coming to grips with the fact that magic is _real_? I mean semblances and aura are already pretty amazing but we know how _that_ works, but this? What are you even drawing this from?"

Yang spun her hand, letting out ribbons of flame that harmlessly formed shapes in the air. "I don't know, really, but it doesn't feel much differently from my semblance. I draw it from the same place, it feels like."

"Doesn't that make semblances magic and not something our soul does?" Nora asked.

"Maybe that's where magic comes from," Ren said. "We can't deny the possibility that we might all draw from the same place. You sure this isn't just an additional semblance?"

"Nope," Yang said, answering for the sheepish Ruby. "We inherited it at a young age from some dying old witch from our tribe. Don't know how Mom did it but she split the magic between us. We got our auras unlocked years after and found our semblances then. They may draw from the same place but they _feel_ different. Magic feels like it can bend to how you want to shape it, but a semblance feels like it was _pre_ -shaped, if that makes sense."

Ruby, having recovered, sat up with a smile on her face. "You guys are taking this all pretty easily, I'm impressed." Not that they'd divulged all the details, but even the gist of it was supposed to be pressing enough. Shifting worldview tended to do that.

Sun shrugged. "Honestly, after all the things we've seen, I don't think we're _allowed_ to get too surprised at this point. I mean, have you _seen_ the kind of Grimm out there? Seeing what they can do, they're probably magic too. It'd about explain where they come from."

"That's actually right," Emerald said absentmindedly. They blinked at her. "Oh, too soon?"

Mercury wrapped an arm over her shoulders. "Welp, might as well, right, Em?"

"What do you know about magic?" Yang asked.

"A lot, if you'd believe it," Emerald said. "At least more than Mercury. He wasn't paying attention when it was being explained to us."

He raised his hands up. "Guilty."

"But who explained it to you?" Ruby asked.

Emerald breathed an easy sigh and chuckled. They seemed more captivated with what was unfolding before them. She was still a little worried of what they'd think but they were here to listen. "Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself." She took Mercury's hand and looked up at him. He nodded. "I think we should start from the beginning."

**[|}.{|]**

"I'll preface this by saying that we're not exactly molded like you guys," Mercury began. "We didn't grow up dreaming of being huntsmen. You could even say we were pretty much the opposite."

"Marcus Black, my…" his face scrunched up, as if struggling to say, "…my _father_ , was as much a professional hitman as he was a professional asshole." He lifted his pant leg, revealing the metallic plating and sinews underneath. "Had these installed a few years back after he took my legs _and_ my semblance."

It became apparent to them that Mercury never wore anything but pants before, even when largely dressed down. They finally found out why. The metal bits wound in complex tendons that simulated muscle, it almost didn't look real. Yang even whistled.

Jaune looked the most mortified by it, staring up at Mercury with abject pity. " _He_ did that?"

He nodded. "No anesthetic either. Said that if I died from the shock, then I was too weak anyway. I held on by sheer defiance. Wanted to get back at him when it was done. I did, after all. He's dead, I made sure of that." His coquettish smile was weak, sad even. Not that he mourned, just that it was a particularly dark chapter in his life that shaped the man he was today. It formed parts of him that he didn't like. It was clear to see that he didn't like it. He wore that disgust on his sleeve.

"No wonder you act the way you are," Yang said. She didn't come off as insensitive, in fact she was sympathetic. Her eyes flashed red as she stared at the legs, letting the implications sink in and burn a hole in her heart. Fratricide might not have been enough to justify chopping off your son's legs.

"Checking me out?" he asked with a grin.

"As if." She laughed. "I just wish you had more justice than you got. I don't imagine he suffered as long he should have."

Mercury was a little aback at that. It was a little unlike her to wish suffering on someone. "You really are Raven's daughter."

"You know my mom!?"

He shrugged. "We thought she was a Maiden – I mean, _witch_."

"Maiden?" Blake asked skeptically.

Emerald put a hand on his arm. "You're getting ahead of yourself there, too, Merc." She turned to them. "We'll get to that," she placated Blake.

"Anyway," Mercury continued, "after I put down my old man and took charge of my life, I ran into Emerald and… our _boss._ "

Emerald took the lead, Mercury squeezing her hand. "I was a thief on these streets way back when. I had nothing. No home, no bed. I was worse off than most orphans but better than some too. I had a criminal record, but my semblance meant that I could take anything whenever I wanted, right in front of whomever I was robbing because I could decide what they were seeing." She spoke more as if to detail the mundanity of it, like it was a normal job you did. "But I had to steal for every meal I ate. Some days I didn't get any at all. Sickness felt like death, and you were lucky if it didn't rain when you were sleeping in a cardboard box. I hated it. Hated how little I had in spite of everything that I could do. So when someone offered that I could leave that life behind… I took it. Didn't matter what it meant or who was in the way. The chance to have more than what I had was everything I ever wanted."

Emerald paused, listless. She was drowning in the onslaught of memories that she was once fond of but found herself reflecting on them with eyes wide open. They were tainted now and she felt… _used_. "She lured us in with lavish promises, but the fact is, we would have taken anything at that point. She found us all we wanted was… _something. Anything._ " Even with the family she left behind, Emerald saw the prospect of one that would not crumble if she screwed up, one that could endure her mistakes.

"Her name was Cinder Fall," Mercury said, quickly looking to Penny, "and don't bother looking her up. She doesn't exist anywhere on any record. She's as much a mystery as the Grimmlands."

Penny's smile held. "Impossible." She stood still for a moment. Then, for the first time since meeting, her smile fell. "How?"

"She has help," Emerald answered. "Arthur Watts, some old hat who got kicked out of Atlas, can mess with most Atlesian tech. He even built some of it. In fact, that's why there's no record of me or Mercury either. Watts himself is only on public record because he's on a blacklist. You can't expunge people's memories."

"Is it true?" Weiss asked Penny. "Is there nothing of them either?"

Penny paused. "There is, but only since Beacon opened this year."

Yang leaned in. A part of her was thrilled to know the name of what amounted to an actual supervillain, but she found that thrill stifled by the sense of scale behind it. She felt small somehow. "What does Cinder want?" she asked.

"Personally? Power. I don't know the reasons behind it but it boils down to that. And she has a lot of it."

"Blake," Mercury said, "do you remember the day when the White Fang's Vale sector got active? Like, really, _dangerously_ , active?"

"Yeah," she said slowly, "when I left… Don't tell me you two were somehow involved."

"We were," Emerald said with a harrowed laugh at the absurdity of it all. "We came to Adam to supply him with smuggled SDC dust and weaponry. The best of it, we hand delivered. He didn't take kindly to humans so he turned us down at first…"

"At first?"

Emerald bit her lip, watching the vulnerability Blake found herself in. "Cinder was watching. She wanted to get him at his most desperate, his most spurned, for a hasty alliance. You were the leverage she needed."

Blake shook her head. She wasn't about to blame herself like a child, but she felt responsible for Adam. That's why she took the job to take him out, but before her sat two of those involved in every atrocity that came after. "Adam was a monster. You helped him…" she whispered, but she couldn't blame them either. "You… you didn't have a choice did you?"

"We were just following orders," Emerald said shamefully.

Mercury took her hand. This was no time for secrets. That included being completely honest with them. That's what they decided. "We… also didn't care."

"What?" It was Yang who looked the most shocked. "But you care about _us_ , right?"

Mercury laughed. "Yeah… strange as it sounds to say now, we actually care about you lot," he looked to Blake, "but that doesn't excuse what we were or what we thought. The world could've burned and we wouldn't have cared if it meant _we_ weren't. We just wanted to survive. Everyone else didn't matter."

"Funny how things turned out," Ren said, smiling, "I know you've likely been through a lot, caring only about each other. Yet here you are now, but it leaves to wonder… why now? Why us?"

In spite of her fears, Emerald felt her heart alight at the faces in the room. Watching her more out of a concern for her wellbeing rather than what she could have represented. "When we enrolled in Beacon, we expected to find the same indifferent assholes who had filled our lives at that point. Cinder was an exception but only because she made an effort to hide it, but then you all showed up and…" The gloom banished, a hint of apparent joy etching her lips. "I had only ever felt this kind of genuine affection once in my life. I could almost delude myself into thinking it was a dream… but then I found it here and…" She paused, almost choking on her words. "I could tell myself that someone gave a shit about me. About _us._ That even if we confessed to being some of the worst people Remnant had ever seen, you'd still have our backs."

"I'm surprised you trust us so much," Jaune said. "I'm not even sure how we earned it."

"That's the funny thing about it," Mercury said, "you guys didn't have to do much at all. When I started out, I made no effort to like any of you, and Ren could see right through Emerald's sweet little lies. Yet, you all pushed through anyway without ever trying. For _her_ , mostly," he admitted, pointing to Emerald. "But Yang got to me and the rest is history."

"I did?" Yang asked.

"You didn't want to pry. You let me have my space and my secrets, all of it. I was giving you shit for a first week but you kept coming back. I decided to return the favor, get Pyrrha back with the team and it all just… worked out. Suddenly we were all together and I found more and more people willing to put up with me."

"Merc," Sun said, "are you crying?"

"What?" He was.

Emerald laughed, leaning into him. "You get like this sometimes now. You start getting emotional and forget what you're doing. You kept staring and smiling at me like an idiot…"

He pulled her in again. "This is what I'm talking about… When me and Em found out that we actually cared about each other and got more open about it, I realized that the same could have easily been said about everyone else."

"It all came to a head this afternoon," Emerald continued. "We were wired an assignment when we were out getting the meat for the party. Someone wanted us to take out Tukson at his shop before he got away." Blake held her breath. "But when we arrived and found out that he was trying to escape we… couldn't do it. We ended up helping him fake his death so they'd leave him alone."

Mercury shifted with Emerald, smiling at her. "We realized that we weren't the people we used to be," he said, holding her hand, fingers woven together.

"We were… _are_ happy," she said but she turned somber. "But we've switched sides. They won't leave us alone when they find out that we actually have friends and…" she looked up at Mercury, "have maybe fallen in love. They'll either force us to turn on you all or maybe they'll just kill us and be done with it."

Because caring about each other meant Cinder had no leverage on Emerald's heart, and now all that loyalty fell away into uncertainty. And Cinder would settle for no less than absolute loyalty. She would have her power, her plans, her pawns, and divergence from that was not only dangerous, but fatal.

"We won't let that happen," Yang said. "We're in this together now, aren't we?"

"It doesn't matter what you did," Blake added, "what matters is what you do from here on. I understand what it feels like to have your mistakes haunt you. I won't judge you if you don't judge us."

"So," Weiss began, "this it then? No more secrets."

"About that…" Mercury said. "There's more. About magic, the Grimm, who _Cinder_ works for, why we're in Vale…"

"To name a few," Emerald added, laughing. "But no secrets, right?"

**[|}.{|]**

The minutes turned to hours, blurring through the night as they talked and talked and talked.

…

"Professor Goodwitch isn't a witch but Professor Amber _is_?" Jaune asked.

"A Maiden, actually," Emerald corrected. "Kind of the same thing, really, but that's what they're called."

Ruby hummed. "That's also what Headmaster Ozpin calls us."

They blinked at her. "What?" someone asked.

She glanced at the very disappointed looking Yang. "Oops…"

…

Ren, for the life of him, was suddenly shaken. "So whoever Cinder's boss is, she can control the Grimm?"

Mercury shrugged. "Way I understand it, she might even be responsible for them."

"But they've been around for longer than anyone can remember."

Emerald grit her teeth apologetically. "Sorry to say, Ren, but she's probably immortal or something."

…

The circle was getting tighter and smaller, as they huddled closer.

"So why _were_ you supposed to enroll at Beacon?" Weiss asked.

"A ton of things," Merc answered. "We were supposed to scope the place out, the CCT especially. Build a connection with the staff, including Ozpin. Odd jobs too, help someone smuggle something into the city, take care of anyone who was giving Adam or Roman a hard time, all that."

"Yeah, about Roman…" Yang offered.

"He's not so bad," Emerald said quickly. "He watched out for us. He's as trapped as we are. Sure he's still kind of a cheeky asshole but I'm getting used to have those kind of people around."

Mercury bumped her shoulder with his. She nearly fell over.

…

"This is kind of exciting," Nora cheered next to Ruby. "It's like we're saving the world now."

"I know! I'm so glad we're all in on this."

"What was with the ice block though? Y'know, when Yang froze your head."

"Oh, that's cause I have two kinds of magic. One has to do with my silver eyes. Mom has it too. We can petrify Grimm. It's _awesome._ "

…

"So, I'm not pregnant," Pyrrha cheered.

"I'll be honest," Nora said, "I'm a little disappointed. Just smidge. A little. Okay, a lot. Like, a lot–a lot. I totally wanted to set up play dates."

Jaune laughed. "Hey, at least this way when we actually get a kid, yours will be their big brother!"

Nora beamed and Ren chuckled nervously. "Please don't give her any crazy ideas. She'll start grooming him into–"

"–the best big brother, ever!" Nora interrupted. "C'mon, let's call Hugin and Muni. I wanna give them the big news."

…

It was juvenile by the end, the seriousness fading with the drinks.

"Don't think you can dodge us this time," Yang said. "Everyone saw the googly eyes you were making at Merc when you said you might be in love."

"Keyword: _might_ ," Emerald retorted. "We're happy with how we are, but sure you can say we're in love but if you mean if we'll get married like half of you are, then we don't know. It might not be in the cards right now. We have to think about what _is_ , not what might not come at all." Emerald didn't want to think what that meant when she was quoting Roman of all people.

…

"So where does this leave us?" Emerald asked them.

Yang shrugged. "We're in this together now. For all of it. We were always going to save the world, it felt like, and all this means is that we know exactly who we're up against. If anything, the future seems more certain than it ever has before."

Yang stood up and walked over. They watched her carefully when she stood before them, turned around, and sat between the two. With an arm over each of their shoulders, she hugged them close, heads bopping together. "Thanks for coming clean," she said. "I know it was probably the scariest thing you've ever done."

"It was," Emerald said, wrapping an arm around Yang's waist. "Still is, really. We don't know how this will turn out with Cinder or her people."

"Doesn't matter," Ruby said. The clustered crowd moved in closer, almost in a group huddle. "We'll have each other's backs." The group hug ensued. At the center, the love was suffocating but not unwelcome.

Even if they couldn't truly protect them from everything, the idea, the promise, was enough.

It had been more than most of the world had given them, after all.

**[|}.{|]**

Their apartment, even when everyone was asleep, still didn't seem very quiet. And that was fine, really.

Stood at the window, Emerald and Mercury were shoulder to shoulder, staring out at the moon above.

"Friends, huh?" Mercury said. "Didn't think I'd see the day. Finding out that I actually _appreciated_ that Yang was being pushy was kind of surprising too. Or that I didn't hate Jaune or… any of them really. I kinda feel naked at this point."

"That's what not having walls feels like, I think," Emerald said. "We didn't actually keep much to ourselves back there."

"Hm… Any regrets?"

"I'm sure I might in the future, but no, not any now." She nestled herself into his side. "We're at least in less danger with them backing us. It's like we're not so alone in the world anymore."

"Kinda liked that it was just us for a while though," he admitted. "Now I have to share you but… I guess making it clear I get a monopoly on you is fine too."

She giggled. "Aren't you possessive… We're not even really dating yet."

"Dragons covet their hordes, Em. I like having you as the most important thing I have."

She raised a playful brow. "I'm yours now, am I?"

"I'm yours too. Isn't it mutual?"

"Why can't you just say you love me, Merc?"

He paused, thinking to himself. He stared her straight in the eye. "I love you."

She blushed. "W-what!?"

"Shh! They're sleeping!" he whispered loudly.

"You startled me, dumbass!" she hissed quietly. "And whatever happened with not playing fast and loose with those words?"

"I just said them. They're just _words_. They don't mean a thing."

"Oh." She huffed. "Now I'm just disappointed."

"Hey, I like to think what I do tells you more than what I say."

"At this point, Merc, you're just playing with my heart."

"Can you blame me? We're not exactly in the right position to be thinking about these kinds of things. Making out and cuddling works out well enough for me. I'd rather not complicate things before I know we're safe."

"Hmph… Since when were you the pragmatic one?"

"Since you started listening to the girls' teasing you and ended up falling for me."

"Oh, _I'm_ the one that fell for _you?_ "

"You did," he said simply, "and now I have to stop you from letting your emotions get ahead of you. I mean, it isn't like you getting more in touch with yourself is all down sides. You've certainly opened up way faster with them than I did. I'm just catching up with you at this point. Maybe when I'm pouring my heart out to Jaune and Sun over drinks, maybe then I'll stop holding back, but as it stands, I have to be your stopgap, else I'll lose my shit and take you here and now."

She blushed. "Here? At the window with everyone sleeping in the same room?"

He held her waist, pulling her close and looking her in the eyes. She was timid under his gaze, with a hand to his chest but unwilling to really put any effort into it. She bit her lip. His mind was going haywire at the sight. He sighed and dropped his forehead to hers. "You drive me crazy, Em…"

"Good," she whispered. "I like it this way." He pulled back and saw her staring at his chest, massaging the lapels as if wondering if she could rip it open. "The feeling's mutual. I hope that's clear. We start doing the dirty tango now, and I'm afraid we won't know when to stop."

He licked his lips. She marveled at the texture, wanting everything just to take it, but here under the pale moonlight, she knew that she couldn't get too greedy. She quelled that fire in her heart with willpower alone.

She pushed him off of her but took his wrist. "C'mon, Merc. Unlike them, we actually have a bed to sleep in."

"Em… we shouldn't." It took all of his self-control to say that.

"We aren't," she said. "Let's just go to bed."

She led him through the dark and into their bedroom. On the spare bed slept Yang and Ruby, snoring peacefully. They ignored them.

Under the covers, Emerald watched Mercury shut his eyes as she settled into his chest. She watched his breathing slow as it set pace with hers. And when he snored quietly, she drifted off to sleep.

They were surprised to find that it was peaceful.


	7. Want for that sunset,

Mercury scowled at the soup bowl below him, his eyes having gone dull and flat. It was one of those listless days. With all the excitement that came those few months back, the only thing to look forward to now was the fast approaching dance at the end of the week.

"Hey, Merc," Jaune said as he sat across from him with Pyrrha, "you look a little down."

He waved it off with his spoon-hand, unconsciously flicking bits of soup at him. "Nah, I'm just bored. Also, I'm fighting with Em, I guess."

Pyrrha gasped. "Oh, but I thought things were going so well. What happened?"

The room was starting to fill that morning, rancor buzzing through the air like waves in an ocean. It was getting louder. Gave him a headache.

"Was in the bathroom too long at the apartment," he said without any malice, sounding more like he was explaining something unimportant.

"That's ridiculous!" Jaune said. "Let me talk to her."

"Please don't," he said lazily, hand on his cheek. "We're not _really_ fighting. We're just using this as an excuse to get some distance cause we're pussyfooting around being honest about it."

Jaune's expression flattened. "All this just get some alone time? You two have to got to be the weirdest couple I've ever met."

"We're not a couple."

Yang, who was listening in, sat beside Mercury. "God forbid how infuriating you'd be if you were, huh?"

"Ya think?" Mercury genuinely asked.

She blinked at him with a furrowed brow. "I… I don't like this version of Mercury. What happened to you?"

"M'bored," he slurred with soup in his mouth.

"Come again?"

He gulped. "I'm bored."

"That's it!?" She very much wanted to headbutt him. "Of all the frigid bullshit… y'know what, _fine_! You're bored and that apparently justifies you getting madcapped. I'm done." She turned to see Jaune staring at her. "What?" she snapped.

"Mercury's rubbing off on you," Jaune said, not missing a beat. "You're cursing and quicker to temper. I mean, I know your semblance is all about getting angry but you're usually more in control of it."

Mercury looked up from his soup. "She wants to get laid," he said simply. Yang flicked his forehead. "Ow."

Pyrrha watched Yang blush like the burning sunset over the desert. She supposed it made sense. Everyone around her was taken, and her cousin couldn't even share in the loneliness since she was more hitched to her career than anything else. "Are you lonely?" she asked.

Yang was pouting at this point, having calmed herself down enough not to seethe from her ears. "I – no! … Well, _yes,_ but… but that's not why I'm mad! It's just Mercury, okay? Just look at him." She gestured to the man in question, who was lying on the table, swirling his spoon and letting go so the spoon spun at the rim for a moment before repeating the process.

"Actually, this is kind of interesting," Jaune said. They stared at him. "Hear me out. Mercury has either been aggressive, cheeky, or – whenever Emerald's involved – possessive. Only since our big talk three months back did we really get to see him getting emotional. This," he gestured to him, "this is _new_. If anything, we should be excited. I think he's on the verge of discovering another part of himself."

Yang sat back down, finding herself agreeing with him. "Okay, I'll bite. _Merc_."

"Mm."

"Open up. It can't just be boredom. You're too active to let a little monotony get you down."

"Look, I'm just not used to _nothing_ happening," he slurred sadly with a hint of irritation at himself. "Things have been so damn quiet that I'm starting to lose it. I already started screaming at the apartment. Hell, I even started sleeping in the dorm again just to break up the reptition! Now I'm here wasting away with nothing but tests, soup, and fuck all… Can't even get into sparring anymore. Heart's not in it."

Pyrrha nodded. "It's true. He hasn't been himself in the spars lately."

"You were plenty cheeky yesterday," Yang said, crossing her arms.

"He was acting," Pyrrha answered for him. "He was unusually serious then, didn't you think so?"

"…That does explain why he kept his mouth shut. I just thought you were taking me seriously for a change."

Mercury glared at her. "I'm always taking you seriously when we spar."

"Hey, no, I just mean all the taunting. I still got the bruise to prove you weren't holding back." Yang rubbed her arm.

"You really should let me heal that," Jaune offered.

"Hey, no way, buster. If we keep depending on you to heal every wound, we'll lose our tolerance to pain."

Ren, who had been there the entire time, coughed. "Mercury," he said slowly, "this sounds like a more inherent problem."

Mercury raised a brow at the suddenly appearing ninja. "What'cha mean by that?"

"I imagine that you were always watching your back when you were with Cinder. Nowadays you let your guard down. Tell me, when you hold Emerald at night, do you feel secure acting as her shield?"

"I… yeah, yeah I do."

"You've likely been sleeping better too now, haven't you? This is because you're internalizing the protection of what's important. Normally we're pensive when we try to sleep in a dangerous place, because we're worried for ourselves, but when I held Nora close on those cold nights in the wild, I always felt secure knowing that if anything came, I would awake first because I would be the one attacked, not her."

"That sounds kind of… morbid," Jaune said. "Wouldn't you still fear for your _own_ life?"

"If you grew up in the wilds, where you could wake up one day without an arm or a leg – no offense."

"None taken," Mercury said.

Ren continued, not missing a beat. "Out there, things are simplified. Losing something is expected, so you learn to hold onto the essentials and not what you can replace. And when you're out there with someone you _love_ more than anything else, you worry about them more than you do yourself. You're not really thinking that ' _I could get hurt too._ ' It's more that you worry if the one you care about is unharmed."

"So what does this have to do with Mercury getting bored?" Yang asked.

"Because he's realized that Emerald hardly needs protecting anymore. Beacon, Roman, _us,_ every ally they've acquired has become a contributing factor in keeping her – and consequently _him_ – safe. He doesn't even need to watch his own back anymore, let alone hers."

Mercury actually sat up. "So you're saying I'm bored cause I feel _too_ safe?"

"That and dance practice," Ren added. "Combat class for ballroom dancing is a waste of time."

Even Jaune hummed in agreement. "Still," Jaune began, "when we look at it like that, it seems like you're having trouble adjusting with being… _normal_. As in, normal even by huntsman standards."

"I guess so," Mercury admitted. "Didn't think I still had a lot to learn outside of a fight." He scrunched up his face. "Kinda makes me feel like an idiot…"

"Hey, at least you're housetrained," Yang jeered, bumping shoulders.

Emerald walked into the cafeteria with Nora. Emerald sat next to Mercury. He silently slid his soup bowl to her, and she downed much of it in one go.

"Oh, uh, hey, Emerald," Jaune said. "You don't seem too happy."

She sighed. "Played hooky with Velvet and Coco to get a dress for the dance. Goodwitch caught us on the way back. Would've gotten out scot-free if Velvet didn't have such a bleeding heart." Her resigned look made it clear that she wasn't mad at Velvet. She didn't even seem mad, just restless. "Pass me the salt?" she asked Mercury.

"Mm." He did so.

Yang leaned over. "Aren't you two supposed to be fighting?"

They looked at each other. Then at her. "Nah."

A vein at her temple pulsed. Yang took her empty plate and stood up. "Okay, I'm out."

Nora blinked at the retreating blonde. "What's up with her?"

Jaune shrugged, organizing his cleared plate. "Mercury's finding out that he's turning normal and the transitionary period is weirding her out."

"Normal?" Emerald scoffed. She looked up at Mercury and saw the sheer gloom and scoffed again. "Bull, he's just bored out of his mind."

"That's the point," Ren said. "Being normal is boring to him." He looked her up and down. Light makeup, form-fitting blouse for a morning out in the city, even her hair was notably straighter. "And you look like you're adapting in your own way. You seem to have put more effort into how you look in front of Coco. Wanted to maintain your first impression?"

"I guess I did worry about looking like a street rat…"

Ren was bemused by her honesty. "Not even trying to make excuses…"

"What'd be the point of that? If I'm not honest with you guys, then who else am I gonna lay my heart out to?"

Nora giggled. "Mercury for one."

"Please, he knows me too much. He even picked out this blouse earlier. Just threw on the bed cause he knew the one I stormed into the bathroom with had a hole in it."

"So you're both growing up," Ren continued. "I'm happy for you, but try not to get ahead of yourselves. You have your whole lives to catch up. Don't try changing all at once."

"Would if I could," Mercury said. "God, I gotta go do something…"

"Maybe get a hobby," Pyrrha suggested. "Things aren't going to get exciting overnight. You might as well occupy yourself with something."

When he stood up and took the plate he had his bowl on, he found a scroll underneath it. It had to have been Yang's. "A hobby, huh? I think I have an idea."

**[|}.{|]**

"…I mean, I'm always tinkering with these legs of mine just to keep them maintained. I figured a bike wouldn't be too complicated if I can work the mechanics of cybernetics."

Mercury watched Yang turn some screws on her bike. "You know these things are completely different, right?"

"My legs used to have hydraulics before I got the mesh tendons. And I've worked an engine or two when I was growing up with Marcus. Even got the second one working!"

"Second?" She stood up and wiped the oil off her chest, silently considering it a feat that he wasn't staring at them. "What happened with the first?"

"It blew up, but to be fair it was supposed to. Killed a guy with it. The second one wasn't supposed to run so it could build pressure instead, so dad just dropped the damn thing on him. Got a beating for screwing it up, but I learned a lot. And on my own too."

She chose not to comment on how he _accidentally_ got an engine working instead of exploding it. "It's still weird to me that you can casually talk about being beat as a child. Or the… _murder_ … Why are we friends again?" She was more or less used to it at this point, it wasn't like her parents hadn't had to put down their fair share of human lives in their time either.

"If you lived that life like I have, it's easy to talk about it. It's more in the past than anything else. I'm not like the civies who have it haunt their entire lives."

She disagreed. No one had that kind of strength… No, it wasn't even strength. Some things just stayed with you, even if it stopped hurting. "Merc, your entire life is violence and being a huntsman is no different. Whether you like it or not, it's shaped you profoundly. And _that_ still means you're haunted by it."

"So I didn't escape it, so what? Not like I can't move on, even if it's somewhere in the same direction, at least I'm not following in his footsteps."

"I'm not saying you can't move on, Merc. I'm just saying that Marcus – for all the damnation that he deserves – had an effect on who you are. If you don't accept that, you'll live your life in denial."

"He didn't make me who I am."

"Everyone makes you who you are, Merc. We aren't an island. People shape us all the time, every day. Hell, I've even started cursing out of my ass cause I hang out with you and Em too much. I'm not saying we aren't responsible for who we are, and I'm not telling you give him even a modicum of respect for training you _even if_ it gave you the strength to protect Emerald. You don't have to give him _anything_ , but you can't deny the truth like a child. You owe it to yourself to see reality for what it is."

Mercury didn't like the idea of admitting that Marcus was still looming somewhere overhead, but that was just it, wasn't it? Marcus wasn't _actually_ there haunting him. He was just a dark chapter of his life that help shape him. The mold didn't have to be tainted by it, he just had to acknowledge that it was there. Not fucking likely – he was stubborn after all, even _if_ he knew it – but it wasn't like he couldn't see it Yang's way and it wasn't like he couldn't see it for what it was given time.

Accepting it wasn't easy but… "I'll give it some thought," he conceded.

"It's all I ask," she said with a smile.

Mercury snorted and rolled his eyes playfully. "What's with all the preaching anyway?"

"I've found religion and will surrender my life of debauchery to the nunnery." She grinned at him. He raised knowing brow. "Fine, fine, I've actually just decided to take an interest in helping you out."

He squinted, realizing that she was being completely serious. "Why?" he asked pointedly. "No – correction: _fucking_ why _?_ "

"Because the girls have already been passing Emerald around, sorting out her feelings, fashion sense, etc. and only up until recently have _you_ needed some help." Unlike Emerald, Mercury was more in control of his emotions, hard as it was to see sometimes. She _had_ been the one to fall for _him_ , she'd even be the most susceptible with Cinder's false praise, but then Mercury started having new issues of his own. Yang sighed. Emerald was at least more malleable too, her boyfriend who would be a different story. "So I'll personally take steps to help sort you out too. Not that I don't think the boys can't help you out but they seem more interested in propping you up in different ways. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but Jaune has too many issues of his own, Sun and Neptune are too laid back, and Ren is a baby-daddy who shouldn't have to concern himself with you _or_ Emerald with a kid of his own to think about. Besides, my help doesn't have to be complicated. I think being here and wanting a bike for yourself is a good first step."

"Wait, wait, rewind there for a bit. Emerald doesn't need the help of every girl in our circle to get better. Why all the drastic measures?" He actually sounded mad.

"Ease up, cowboy. They're just teaching her things. Weiss is teaching her etiquette, table manners, stuff like that. Wants to take her out to fancy places down the line…" She looked him up and down, leaning on one of the tables in the garage. "You don't need help in that department, do you?"

He shook his head. "Dad taught me how to be a good little boy in front of rich people. Was one of my covers for a while. Granted, I was more taught to be a waiter than an attendee but I'm sure having my back straight and not embarrassing myself will suffice."

Yang nodded. "Good."

"What about the rest of the girls?"

"Oh, well, Ruby wants to show her comic books – her, Jaune, and Penny have a dorky little club. Blake has some… _choice_ literature to pass on – don't ask. Coco and I have been helping her expand her outfits and Penny…" She looked down, confused. "Uh… Y'know, I don't know what Penny's been teaching her but that's beside the point! The bottomline is that on occasion she also has to ask things she can't ask _you_ per se. Cause they're about you. Hint-hint."

Mercury had an epiphany. Instead of being exasperated at being hounded for his feelings for Emerald, he decided to take a step back. The garage they were in was largely empty, smelling like gasoline, grease, and sweat. It was a place a dad labors himself in to distract from anything that might have gone wrong in his life. He knew Marcus certainly did. "Yang, are you living your love life vicariously through Emerald or something?"

"No," she waved off with a laugh, "I'm living it through _you._ A girl needs some action in her life and whoever this one god is _knows_ that I won't just have one falling from the sky. So it's either I get my fix from getting you two to bump uglies or I find some myself."

"Why don't you just start dating? You said you did it all the time before Beacon. Hell, you even have some friends in this city that _aren't_ us. What gives?"

Yang leaned on her bike. "Cause none of them are like you guys. Before Beacon, I was experimenting. Now? I want something serious and I don't wanna risk dating a bunch of people and getting a reputation that attracts assholes and scares away any guy or girl worth their salt."

"I hear Coco's single," he offered.

"Oh no. No way. Not a fuckin' chance. She has a thing for Velvet who has a thing for Fox, but Yatsu has a thing for Coco – the poor guy – and throwing me into the mix is just a whole 'nother headache I'd rather not deal with. No offence to them but count me out…" Her eyes widened again. "They aren't asking, are they? I know you hang out with Coco and Yatsu sometimes."

He waved his hands defensively. "No, no, just an off-color suggestion." He paused. "Cardin?"

She deadpanned. "Ugh. He has a thing for Velvet too. And don't go suggesting the others on his team. Sky and Dove are probably dating and Russel is ace, as far we're concerned."

Mercury about gave up. "How do you know all this?"

"Ruby got me weirdly into all the gossip since you and Em started dancing around each other. I got curious and now I know too much. Thanks, by the way. I'm blaming you for all this." Her little smile told him that she wasn't being serious, laughing with her after. "Ha…" she intoned, slapping one of her reddened cheeks. "I'm fucked as far as dating goes, huh?"

"We've all got our problems, Yang. I _could_ help though."

"Room for three?"

He shook his head with a smile. "Don't even suggest it. Me and Em have a hard enough time figuring out what love between _two_ even is. Three would complicate things."

"I wasn't being serious." She laughed it off.

" _I_ was."

She blinked. "What?"

"If things weren't complicated or… _fucked,_ me and Em probably wouldn't mind having you on. As it stands, we both like you the most out of everyone else." He had thought it was obvious. She helped the most, was the easiest to deal with. If anyone else amounted to a best friend to them, it would have been her.

"Ha, can I get that in writing?"

"Not on your life."

She sighed with a shrug. "Oh, well…" She couldn't help but smile bigger than her cheeks could allow. Having had a profound effect on them left her feeling a little more weightless. "So what was that about helping me out?"

He pulled out his scroll and pulled out a photo of two huntsmen and two huntresses. "Got a team from Vacuo I'm acquainting with on an assignment. Team Nidus, N-D-S-S. They're pretty colorful. I'd personally recommend Sage or Nebula. Maybe you could take your pick. Hell, they're all single, pick 'em all if you like."

She couldn't get excited for it. Normally she would have but… "An _assignment_? For the Queen?"

"We're in private, Yang, and we aren't bugged," he said calmly, as if trying to comfort her even if she was cautioned for _his_ sake. "You can say her name."

"Right, _Cinder_."

"Yes, on a job for _her_ but I can assure you that I'm genuinely getting along with them. Even having drinks tonight."

"That's not the point…" She said slowly. "Ah, Merc, sorry… I know it must be hard being normal but… I gotta tell ya, I'm worried about you and all… _this_."

"Don't worry about it. I just need to keep my head above water and do as I'm told. And if things go south and I have a job I can't do, you and the rest will have my back."

"You talk pretty easily for a guy with his life on the line."

"We're huntsmen. Having our lives on the line comes with the territory."

She smiled at him for that, felt a warmth inside her she hadn't felt since Ruby decided to become a huntress herself. "I'm proud of you, Merc."

"Hm? Why's that?"

"You sound like one of the good guys."

**[|}.{|]**

"The Dance? Oh, I have so many memories of that," Roman mused over dinner in his cozy apartment. "All of them _dreadful,_ really, but I always did have my spot of fun at the punch bowl."

"You went stag?" Emerald asked.

"Oh, hell, no. I never even officially attended. I always just snuck in and spiked the drinks. Always did get caught in the crossfire – karma will do that to you – oh, but the show was always _worth it._ Isn't that right, Neo?"

She nodded.

"Ha!" Mercury cheered, mouth still full of beef. He swallowed. "Didn't take you for a prankster, Roman. Didn't think mischief was worth getting caught."

"Was there to impress a girl," he winked at Neo who actually _blushed._ "Ah, youth. Simpler times. Always did like not having to fight for my life or maintain a criminal empire just to appease an evil queen by being useful. Back then it was all posturing, drinks, and easy lien."

Emerald raised a quizzical brow. "You call defending against the Grimm easy lien?"

"Oh no, my dear, payment there was hard-earned and usually came in the form of anything _but_ lien. Huntsmen didn't always get their coffers from the City Council. No, I made bank by _stealing_. In fact, it was one particular theft by the end of my career that made me who I am today."

"Really?" She looked between him and Neo. "Sounds like it was a big heist. How valuable was it? The thing you stole."

He smiled, fingers wiggling as if to dazzle. "Priceless." He sat back, taking his wine and swirled it. He sniffed then sipped, languishing. "I only ever had something so valuable once before in my life. Had to give it away cause I couldn't keep it. Didn't have the resources."

"What was it?" Mercury asked.

"That's a secret, kiddo."

"Okay," Mercury pointed with his fork, "you're being unusually cryptic." He looked at Roman's plate of untouched steak, which irritated him in a domestic way cause he cooked that meat and served it _hot_. He had better eat it before it went cold. "Why aren't you even eating?"

"Posturing… _stalling_ , mostly." His tone was suddenly somber, almost grim. He chuckled darkly to himself before sighing. He pulled something from his pocket and slid it across the table.

It was a flash drive of some sort. They eyed it ominously. "What's this?" Emerald asked.

Roman's words tasted like a death sentence as they pushed passed his teeth. "You two have another assignment."

Mercury took the device, fingers twitching as he tried to hold it firmly in his digits. He hated it. Cinder called for them again just as they were finally getting used to being normal.

"And _I'm_ going away," Roman continued, his bitter smile carved into his cheeks. His voice was like a whisper, as if he was passing unwilling condemnation. And it was, wasn't it? "Daddy's gotta leave the nest at some point."

"That's not how that saying goes." Mercury, hating himself and Cinder more at this point, found it in himself to laugh at the decorated madness they were in.

"Too bad. It's how it's _going_ ," Roman said. Neo walked over to him and held his hand. She, unlike them, made no effort to hide her grief.

"Why are you leaving?" Emerald asked.

"One of our… _assets_ has been compromised. We need to secure it before Cindy gets her claws on it." He put his hand on Neo's shoulder and pulled her into his side. "You're good kids. Don't lose your head over this, yeah?"

Mercury inspected the drive in his hands before passing it off to Emerald. She had to catch it. He was losing his grip. "What's the mission?" she asked.

"The CCT," Roman began, the luster in his voice dulled, tinted only by the little smile, bitter and sodden as it was. "Get to the top, plug this in till it says it's done, then get out of there. _Unseen_ , preferably. And destroy the drive. Your little Dance will have most people occupied so I suggest doing it then."

Emerald leaned back and loosed a breath. "Figures… To think I was actually looking forward to it." She shut her eyes and fished for Mercury's hand beside her. He took hers first. "I know you wouldn't have gone with anyone else but I was gonna ask you to the dance and kidnap you halfway through the night. Even had these scented candles bought up with the scent of mint, rose petals for the bed, all that."

Mercury chuckled. "Lavender's more your style, Em. I know mint matches your hair but I liked your shampoo more than your perfume."

"Hm…" She shifted. A pit in her stomach bloomed. "Kinda sad that I don't get to live my stupid little fantasies when shit like this shows up. Next time I'll plan something romantic on a fucking Tuesday for no damn reason. Maybe then fate will leave me the hell alone…"

"Wake up, kiddies," Roman said, tapping the table. "There's still dinner to finish."

Emerald groaned when her eyes opened. "You're the one who dropped a bombshell in the middle of it."

"Yes, well, I feel like it's better to eat with your eyes open and everything on the table." Because Roman Torchwick hated secrets that weren't his own.

Mercury couldn't decide if he was happy or not that Roman actually started eating then.

**[|}.{|]**

When dinner finished, Roman and Neo saw them to the door.

"Roman," Emerald began, "for what it's worth, we're going to miss you."

"Mm…" He put a hand on either of their shoulders. "Get yourselves out of this when you get the chance."

"Would if we could," Mercury said.

"There's always a way out. Just gotta use your head. You got resources now." He paused before hugging them. It was strangely affectionate of him, but Neo joined in too.

The door shut and they were alone in that long hallway, but they didn't make for the elevator. Instead they went in the opposite direction. The path led to the building's control room that was up a flight of stairs. They took it and were greeted with the cold night air.

Atop a casino by the coast, Roman Torchwick made his home on its penthouse suite.

Below them was a sea of neon flashing in the darkness, that stretched into the distance till you could barely tell the lights apart from the stars in the sky or the shimmering of the moon against the undulating waves of the ocean.

It was like they were alone in the world, clutched tightly by the dark, heartbeats resonating with the cheap muffled techno thumping from below. They stood together on a steel landing that led to a radio tower that housed the control room. They leaned on the railings as all closely around them was swallowed by the deep shadows that ate the staircase above and below.

"We have to tell them," she said.

"I know… but we could still do it. Penny and Weiss know Ironwood. They could purge it and Cinder won't know unless she tries it out and risks exposing the bug early. She'll have to take us at our word if we say we did it. And if they caught on that the bug is dead, then we'd have failed her and we can pretend we didn't know. We can play the ignorant card."

"That'd delay the inevitable."

"And _your_ solution?"

"Permanence, Merc. I don't want to dance around her anymore. If I ever have to do it again, I want it to be in person with my weapons in hand."

He went behind her and held her close. She was trembling. "Em…"

She pushed him away and pivoted, looking up at him, her eyes steely but glistening as they vibrated with fear. "I don't want to be afraid anymore, Mercury," she said, as she grabbed the hem of her blouse and pulled it up.

Her sweat glistened in the moonlight, each droplet shaking with fear she wished to conquer.

He obliged her as their hushed gasps sang defiance to the shattered moon.


	8. so at night we are undone.

"She wants you to bug the CCT?" Weiss asked. They were near an outdoor amphitheater by an array of pillars. It was dark out. Shadows crept over her pale white skin, accenting her trepidation.

"With this thing, yeah," Mercury said, showing her the dongle Roman had provided. It was plain white on plain white, a tiny innocuous that might have gone missed if you weren't paying attention to it.

Emerald was leaning against a pillar. She had a look ambivalence to her, an excitement brewing beneath the almost omniscient fear of Cinder's looming influence. She'd been able to ignore Cinder's machinations since Mercury came into the fore of her life, but was weary with their assignment for a number of reasons. "We don't know what it can do yet," she said. "She didn't tell us. It can be anything from spying on communications, remotely shutting it down or… overloading the dust reactor."

"All of which could harm or even cripple Vale," Mercury added. "I don't need to tell an ex-heiress how dependent international businesses are on the CCT."

"Which begs to wonder _how_ you know," Weiss commented. "Though I'll fathom it's unsavory?"

"Let's leave it at that," he said. "So can you reach the General and tell him?"

Weiss waggled her scroll. "Penny's listening in." The scroll pinged. She opened it to read a message. "She says she'll tell him tomorrow… Hm, seems he's busy at the moment."

"I thought he was already in the city," Emerald said. "Last I checked, he was having tea with Ozpin. What gives?"

The scroll pinged again. "Something about an old acquaintance resurfacing… Strange. Penny seems to think Ironwood doesn't like whomever this is."

"Someone we should worry about?"

Weiss shook her head. "That's _his_ business, not ours. Most it will do is delay us. I doubt it'll affect us any if at all."

His mind spun on ideas of Watts or Cinder herself. Either thought left him dreading. "Doesn't make it any easier on my nerves…" Mercury said, his paranoia worn on his sleeve. "Whatever. I'll just take your word for it."

Weiss was used to his amiability by now, even if she still found herself blinking at him in brief confusion. "R-right… So, what's your plan? Regardless of Ironwood's knowing, there will _still_ be security on detail."

"I'll sneak in," Emerald said. "I can make any guard see nothing so at least it'll stay quiet."

Mercury huffed. "Assuming no more than two are looking at you." He grit his teeth, growling. "I don't like the idea of you going in alone, Em…"

She crossed her arms. "Your alternative?"

"I don't have one. I just don't like it." He growled again. "Fuck it… Shit's gonna go horribly."

Emerald pouted. His words stung. "A little more faith in me would be nice. Like it or not, Merc, I'm going in."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it… Look, I get it, the only way we get out of this without having lick our wounds is if _you_ do it and that you do it clean but, _damn it all_ , how am I supposed to feel when I know you'll have to go out there risking your neck out for _us_ while I have to sit on my ass wondering if you'll even be okay!?"

She hugged him. "Like that. Angry, anxious, sad, all that. I'm not gonna ask the impossible and have you not worry about me. Just hang on till I get back."

He wrapped his arms around her, suffocating his fears in all that she was. "Ren was right," he said, "I _am_ more comfortable just knowing you're okay, even if it's at my expense. Sometimes I wish I had your gifts. Then it'd be me who'd have to go up there."

She didn't like the idea. "Then _I'd_ be the one worried, Merc…"

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, I know. I'm selfish that way."

Weiss, who had been beside herself squinting at them, was starting to lose her patience. "Can you two stop prattling about and date already? All this dancing around each other's feelings is starting to get old."

They blinked at her. "We _are_ dating, Weiss," Mercury said.

"Yeah, made it official last night."

" _What!?_ " Her scroll erupted with messages as it vibrated like a suddenly volatile Chihuahua. It seemed their android friend was similarly going into meltdown. "Penny! Tell everyone! I am drinking tonight and I am _not_ celebrating this alone!"

She strode to the new couple and hugged them both in a cute little jump. "I'm happy for you both." She pulled away. "Try not to get pregnant," she cautioned with the straightest face.

They couldn't dispute the comment. Emerald luckily hadn't been ovulating but they weren't thinking of it at the time. It also didn't help that their circle's pension for madness warranted it. "Uh, sure," Mercury said.

"Good," Weiss preened. "Now, if you'll excuse me." She walked away with a little jump in her step.

Mercury, however, couldn't share in that mirth. He certainly tried to though as he buried his face in Emerald's neck.

"Still bothering you?" she asked, having read him easily.

"I'll calm down when it's over. For now, I gotta grit my teeth and be the clingiest boyfriend in Beacon."

Caressing his cheek, she admired the way he acted like a child sometimes. "You're a big weirdo when you're possessive, Merc. This is certainly the least cool version of you," she teased.

"It's the version that loves you."

She groaned into her hands, unable to hold her smile. She was still getting used to the word.

**[|}.{|]**

There was a moment in the sunrise where the horizons were just… _blue_.

To Mercury it was callback to simpler times, the loose threads of memory where his mother hung on the bittersweet notions that came after his father. If he was really trying, though, he'd recollect only her veil of ashen hair falling over him as she slumbered with him by the windowsill.

"What was her name?" Yang asked as they sat by the coast, egg sandwich in hand.

"I don't remember," he said. "Marcus didn't care enough to tell me. When we were out on a job, I'd just make up names when people asked. Hera, Juno, anything exotic so people thought I was telling the truth."

"You really can't remember?"

He shrugged. "It started with an 'm', but that's about all I can remember." He'd tried many times before to list off names that started with it, but every time he got it wrong, it just felt like sacrilege. He'd stopped trying since.

"Ever think you could go back and find out? Has to be something left of that old place that could help. Or even the town nearby."

Not likely. Aside from the town that hardly remembered his name when he came in every week, the elements had likely eroded everything he left behind at the ruined house on the hill. Not like he kept a strongbox or anything with photos of her. "I'd rather keep my image of her as it is."

She tilted her head quizzically. "What do you mean by that?"

"In my head she's… _perfect_. Pale skin, ashen hair, beautiful smile. But I was a kid when I lost her. I'm afraid that if I find photos of what she was actually like, I'd… go crazy. What if her eyes were sunken from stress or lack of sleep? If she had scars, or was missing a finger nail from scratching the walls? If… if any of that were true, then even my memories of her would be tainted because then I'd know – irrevocably –that Marcus had hurt her. Then I'd stop remembering her so fondly. I'd just get… _angrier_."

"Shit. Sorry." She twiddled with her half-eaten sandwich, squishing the contents methodically to get the sauce in all the spaces. "But, y'know, if you tell me where it was, I could look. You won't have to come. If I find something good, I'll give it to you."

"And if you find something bad? Like proving my fears right?"

She smiled. "Then I'll lie and say there was nothing."

"Heh," he chuckled. "You're a good friend, Yang."

They finished off their breakfast in silence, the horizon turning yellow with the rising sun, reflecting off their leather jackets and their two helmets nestled between them. Yang found herself inching closer to him.

"Found a date yet?" he asked, nearly startling her.

She looked away sadly. "Yeah. Yeah I did."

"You don't seem to happy about that."

"Well, Sage asked me out but it looked like Gayle wanted to. I don't know if she was jealous of me or him, but it feels like I'm in a love triangle. The _exact_ thing I wanted to avoid. I have too much drama gravitating _around_ me as it is. I'd hate to actually get involved…"

"Then turn him down."

She chuckled sarcastically. "You make it sound so easy, Merc. I can't play with their feelings like that."

"Then what would you rather? Dance around the issue and get Sage all over you and Gayle fuming quietly in the corner, or would you rather tell 'em straight that you're not as enthused about them like you thought you'd be and move on?"

She blinked at him. "How do you know I don't like them that way?"

He looked at her like she was missing the obvious. "Cause you're in love with me and Em, right?"

She reeled. "W-what!?"

"You put up with me and my shenanigans and you're unusually gentle with her. Way I see it, you're either remarkably invested in us, or – more likely – you found yourself a little more attached than you should have but couldn't stop."

Yang blinked at him but let go of the shock when he gave her no cheek and watched her neutrally. She smiled, brushing her hair to one side so she could run her hands through it contemplatively. "Always finding ways to shock me, huh? So where does this leave us?"

"Like always," he said, shrugging. "It's not like either of us don't like you, we're just not in the right place just yet. We only just got official. It'll be a while before we think we're ready for a third." He grit his teeth, showing his first sign of apprehension. "But… I think you'd be happier without latching yourself onto us. We've more than got baggage, we're… different. In all the wrong ways."

"Is that a promise?" It was clear she chose to ignore his warnings.

"Of what?"

"That if things are less… _fucked_ , then you two will give me a chance." Her eyes were earnest, hopeful, if a little demure.

"Well, yeah," he said, suddenly embarrassed. "I'd rather you find someone else, though."

"Sure," she said. "I mean, it's not like I'll wait like some doe-eyed schoolgirl. If I find someone else, I'll go for it, but if nothing happens in a few years then… Well, it's nice to know I won't have to spend all my days alone."

"Yang," he said sternly, "the last thing we want is to leave you alone forever."

"Pfft!" She tittered. "What are you quoting?"

"Nothing, I… damn it, Yang. Why you gotta do that?"

"I'm sorry." She didn't sound like she was. "It's just that Em told me you were getting cheesy and now I'm here and it totally sounds like you're taking notes from Jaune."

"Hey, I'll have you know, Jaune's not so bad."

Yang laughed. He was _defending_ Jaune? He really had changed. "That's what _I_ said, but I'll bite, what made _you_ a convert?"

"Well we got him really drunk and… Yang why are you smiling at me like that?"

"I don't know," she lied, "maybe I'm just expecting to hear that you swing both ways."

Embarrassed and angry, he got up. "Fuck it, I won't say. You'll see at the damn dance anyway."

"Sounds exciting," she said, getting up and following him to their bikes. "Hey, catch!" She tossed him his helmet. He stumbled back as he caught it.

"Let's get going. I can't make those turns like you do so I wanna tune up before we catch lunch." He revved his white and green bike, the engine rumbling beneath as he sat comfortably. He sped off first with Yang closely behind.

"Hey," her voice garbled through the headset in the helmet.

"Yeah?" he answered through the mic.

"Thanks for listening to me."

As they hugged the coast, Mercury watched her pass him by and sped ahead. Her hair trailed from behind her helmet just a bit, the loose strands shaken by the winds. The sight was familiar somehow. He couldn't place where.

**[|}.{|]**

"You're fucking kidding me," Emerald said as they watched the CCT and its new security detail. They had passed by on the way to the dance, her latched onto Mercury as they did so, but they didn't look very romantic as they stared daggers at the guards.

There was way more guards than there were earlier in the week. It wasn't this big last night, but now there was a veritable army patrolling it with barricades and androids. "I thought there'd be a security detail, not a _base_."

"Sorry," Weiss said sheepishly. "Turns out that Ironwood is… _volatile_ , when it comes to security."

"Does he know who we are?" Mercury asked pointedly.

"She deflected." And then hiccupped, she didn't say. "She was careful with choosing her words. As far as he knows, she came across intel from that White Fang raid Blake led. He still has no idea that you two are involved or even exist."

Emerald raised a brow. "We're two of your closest friends and he doesn't know we exist?"

"He only thinks I'm in danger of father's hounding. Winter probably had a hand in that so he hasn't peered into my life outside of conversation." Weiss waved at Neptune who was stood by the entrance of ballroom. There were Atlesian guards there too. "So what do you two plan to do now?"

"We don't have a choice," Emerald said. "Security's not gonna get any better at this point. We either do this now while they have some staffed by the ballroom with Ironwood, or we wait and makes things worse for us and delay contacting Cinder with results."

Mercury held her tighter to him. The crowd of guards on the outside alone was enough to make him panic.

"We were trying to be safe," Emerald continued. "And now it turns out that we've only made things harder on ourselves."

"Don't do it tonight," Mercury said. "Let's just… hold off. Cinder will have to wait."

"Merc, what are you saying? Shit's not gonna get any easier from here on out."

His face scrunched up and his temple pulsed. He stopped, Weiss took the hint and continued without them. Gently, he let his hand fall to Emerald's waist. "Em, please, let's just talk about this later, alright? I'm losing my nerve here…" he pleaded.

"I…" She couldn't fight him when he looked at her like that. "Okay," she whispered as her head fell to his collarbone.

He kissed her head.

**[|}.{|]**

It was weird seeing two blondes move so quickly, mostly because Yang's mop of hair went wild with all the swinging and it looked like it was gravitating around Jaune. Or maybe the punch was spiked and Emerald couldn't focus on anything but their hair.

"She's having a good time," Mercury said. "Wanna join them?"

She shook her head from the dizziness. "Give me a minute… to an hour. Unlike you, my legs actually tire out." Her forehead lurched. "Guh… where'd you even learn to swing dance?"

"Jaune's a good dancer and he spent a lot of time teaching Neptune who… _can't_. The rest of just decided to join in."

"You telling me that you spent the last week dance practicing?"

"Nah," he chuckled. "I mean, I attended and learned a few things but my legs are programmable."

She laughed. "You cheated? Fuck you, Merc. And here I was, actually impressed."

Yang stumbled towards them. "Whoo!" she cheered, leaning on the table and grabbing Mercury's drink, downing it. "Okay, you win this round, Merc. You were right about Jaune." She looked between them. "Not dancing?"

Emerald raised a hand with a grimace. "I'm good for now. Merc tired me out."

She waggled her brows. "Like most nights, huh?" Emerald rolled her eyes playfully. "So mind if I borrow him for a dance?"

"You're not tired?" Emerald asked.

She pointed behind her. "Jauney boy's out there giving Pyrrha more footwork than she can follow, like he's taking revenge for all the sparring. I wanna get back in there and show him up."

Emerald waved them off. "Go ahead."

Mercury crossed his arms. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"Pfft, like you're saying no to me," Yang teased, taking his wrist.

She watched them go, tossing remarks at each other then at Jaune and Pyrrha who eagerly returned them. She was happy for them but the pit in her stomach wouldn't subside. Her eyes kept glancing at the open doorway.

Penny hopped over to her side. "Yang has him occupied for approximately eight minutes," she said.

"Longer," she replied, turning around and walking towards the door behind the crowd, "Yang has him for a few songs. He won't notice me gone until I'm inside."

"Friend-Emerald," she said slowly, hesitantly, "are you certain you wish to proceed with this course of action? Our troops may be hostile and the androids at the barricade cannot be fooled by your semblance."

"I won't resist if I'm caught, but they won't even see me. And with you at the backdoor, I won't even have to worry about cameras, right?"

"I… I will do my best." Penny tried to sound cheery.

"You know, it's weird being around you nowadays."

"Oh? Do… do I upset you?"

She chuckled. "No, silly… Back then you seemed off but now that we know you're an android, you made perfect sense, but now? You're hesitating, won't speak in absolutes, _stuttering_ even. You're more human than you think you are, Penny."

Penny stopped to blink at her friend before preening. "Thank you."

**[|}.{|]**

Emerald stalked the side of the CCT as Penny distracted the guards at the barricade by – of all things – asking for directions. She was a known quantity, and it seemed that more than a few of the grunts were distinctly curious about her.

Sneaking passed them then through the oak doors was easy. Getting inside through the elevator wasn't.

At center of the tower's base was a circular room that had the elevator. The rest of the floor was used to house the many network terminals so people could make their calls. Those rooms, however clustered as they were, had been spacious and welcoming like a library might. The elevator room, however, always looked oppressive.

There were guards there, more than there used to be, but the place was never empty anyway. Contrasting the rest of the tower, it seemed like the gateway to some terrible secret with the 24/7 security detail.

She looked up from the doorway at the tube that rose into the indistinguishable sky, and thought it menacing. Every registered citizen, every legal business, every transaction, every deal, call, flirt, and spat was up there on record. Anyone having access to that might have made people feel naked, vulnerable. And she was about to hand over the keys to all that to Cinder.

She steeled herself, counting the guards as she shook away her hesitation. About six would be on the south facing side that she was on. She'd have brought painkillers for what was to come but drugs, she found, dulled her concentration. Enduring by grit and the skin of her teeth was the only option.

With a heavy breath, she stood and strode confidently into the room.

No guard paid her any mind. At least none that could see her.

Her illusion was cast over them, so they couldn't see her. Emerald was no mind _reader_ , but the access to their minds with her semblance felt like she breaching through the fog to touch those thoughts. And they were _screaming._ Seemed even quiet whispers sounded loud in a collective.

Her semblance normally worked well enough on one person. It was easy, even, but two had been harrowing enough, even with all her training with her team. Six, though? It was like their hands were grasping at her skull, squeezing till she could feel her brain press at the surface. She could almost see herself in their eyes, and the blockade of her illusion held for the time being.

Footfalls dragged along the floor as she walked, trying not to lose concentration. She couldn't run, wished she could, but their eyes that glazed over her might notice if even she couldn't keep up with herself.

She was halfway through the room when the doors of the elevator swung open. Two more guards. " _Fucking, fuck!_ " she thought.

They walked out, chatting about the god damn WIFI! Worst of all, they were walking towards her.

She tried to sidestep but her headache was pulsating, making her lose her footing. She fell with a thud that she couldn't mask. The guards looked around, the two closest were suddenly alert.

"Shit, shit, shit!" She turned to the doorway, thinking of making a break for it, but she was so far now. She just needed to get in there and out. No big deal. She could do this. Fuck everything, and everyone else for doubting her. Even herself. Especially herself.

The guards watched something run passed the doorway. "Miss Polendina!" one of them shouted. Other guards peeled off the walls to check.

Emerald stumbled to her feet and paced herself as she made her way to the door. Some of the guards had gone after the illusory Penny. She managed to the door and masked the sound of it opening. She went in and fell back against the wall. Her head was burning, begging her to shut her eyes just to ease some tension. Slowly the doors closed, and she let herself relax.

She cursed silently when it stopped and another guard tried to walk in. She could maybe deal with the one guard but she didn't want to deal with him all the way up, especially with the way she was.

He was still at the doorway, keeping the doors from shutting.

" _Fuck_ you…" she whispered.

"Huh?" he stopped and surveyed the elevator. There was nothing there.

He shrugged and reached for the 'up' button.

A ragged little girl grabbed his arm.

"Who are – "

Her head fell off.

The guard screamed when he ran out of the elevator. It closed behind him and it went up. She could still hear him going hysterical.

She couldn't revel in the satisfaction. Bile built in her throat but she had to stifle it. Vomiting would leave a nasty trail.

Her sweat clung to the cold floor. She looked down at her dress, the frilly midriff tightened around her waist like a belt. It made her look like an hourglass, accentuating her torso and rear, all of it so Mercury could ogle her. She wished he spent more time admiring it. "You owe me, Merc."

She almost passed out on the floor. It was easier than worrying about what was waiting for her at the top.

**[|}.{|]**

The doors flung open and she expected to see more guards but there was no one up there. Not a soul. So of course she was immediately suspicious.

She peeked out and found no one. There was were rows and rows of terminals here but at the end of it was a singular shimmering monitor against an array of windows.

It was oddly inviting. Like an obvious trap. She walked slowly, eyes dancing around the shadows and the corners of the room until her headache shot up again, and she thought, "fuck it!" and threw caution to the wind and stomped towards it.

She reached for her bundled midriff and pulled the dongle nestled in it. She hesitated only for a second to plug it in before jamming it inside the socket. Seemingly random numbers and letters sailed away through the screen.

It was doing something. Roman said to keep it there until it was done. She waited for an obvious sign of completion but she found herself raising her fist.

She could just… smash it. Break the dongle. It wouldn't even be hard. It could all end here. There was no telling if Cinder could remotely identify if she'd destroyed it prematurely, but what did it matter? Emerald wanted an out and this could be it. One big, giant middle finger to the boss that gave no shits about her, and to whomever was the big bitch she worked for.

It would be so easy. So satisfying. If she could just… just…

The elevator door flung open. _Why the fuck was that thing so damn quiet!?_

She ducked and heard footsteps passed the other terminals. She slid over to them, hearing the footsteps. a single guard walk in.

The figure had a thin waist, if a little tall as she moved passed her. Emerald grit her teeth when the guard approached the terminal and leaned over to check what was happening with it. Emerald couldn't let her get to it, so she leapt up to kick the admittedly nice ass.

The guard spun immediately and blocked it with her rifle. _Damn it!_

Her illusion covered her for a moment as she spun kicked the rifle away. She spun again, kick her in the side but the guard raised her leg to block it somehow, as if anticipating her movements and… _those were metal legs._

"Mercury!" she shrieked.

Her boyfriend chuckled. She should have known. Tall, thin waist, nice ass. The uniform was worn loosely to appear bulky, but of course he had to tighten it around him.

She wanted to headbutt him as he laughed at her expense. "Hey, Em, coming in for a hug?" Since he had a helmet on, she went for his nose. "Oh! Oh… _fuck,_ that hurt."

"Good," she said through grit teeth. "Scaring the crap outta me like that. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to get in here!? And now you waltz in without announcing yourself just to prank me!? You deserved that, you asshole."

He didn't stop smiling. "Happy to see me, though?"

She sighed and fell into his arms. It felt good to relax in his warmth, even if he had armor plating on. "Yeah… fuck you, but yeah."

He rubbed his exposed nose. "Did you _have_ to aura infuse yourself to do that though?"

"I wanted it to _hurt_ , dumbass," she grumbled.

The terminal behind them made some static noise. The screen flashed with the image of a chess piece. A queen. "Gaudy," Mercury said.

"And unnecessary," Emerald added. The rest of the terminals flickered on and showed the same image. "Oh, now Watts is just showing off."

There was a whirring noise somewhere in the room. Emerald, even with her dizziness, heard it too.

Cameras at the corners of the room were slowly turning to face them. "What the…"

The alarm went off.

"Shit!"

Mercury grabbed the dongle but saw text flying through the screen again. One word from the string of Watts's code stood out: _alarm_.

Emerald gasped as they stared at it in horror. "They set us up," she whispered. "She already knows…"

Mercury's fist clenched. He raised it to smash the monitor but Emerald caught his arm. "Don't!" she screeched. "We have to get out of here."

It was too late. The elevator doors flung open again, having silently brought up more guards.

Time stopped as they stared at each other. Mercury's fury, frustration, and fear drained as he saw her mirroring him. So without a second thought, he grabbed her. "Merc?"

Leaning her over, they kissed. A part of her wanted to push him away, but the panic had set in and may no one ever say that her boyfriend wasn't a good kisser. She'd resigned to it. Just… _fuck it_. That and everything else. She might as well put on a show.

He'd pushed her against the desk where she lifted her legs to wrap around him.

Someone walked over behind them and coughed. They ignored him.

Another came over – heeled boots by the sound of it – and gasped.

Their eyes stayed shut.

Somebody snapped a photo. Then five.

She laced her fingers through his hair.

"Ahem," a gravelly voice coughed.

Emerald opened an eye and saw Ironwood staring down at them. She screamed and pushed him off.

Mercury stumbled back and pivoted. "Oh, uh, General!"

"Private," he said slowly, face brimming with menace, "what are you doing up here with a _student_?"

"Oh." It did look like that, didn't it? "Uh, I can explain."

Winter and her congregation of guards were silently behind him. She looked she had a few choice words for all the rules he was breaking. Mercury had never met a woman who could channel Glynda Goodwitch with a glare alone.

Ironwood leaned over and stared at Emerald… Then he paused. His features softened just a bit. He was surprised to see her somehow. Then he looked to Mercury and grabbed him by the helmet. Mercury panicked until the helmet came off of him with a single tug. He smiled sheepishly as he was looked over.

That look on Ironwood's face – they realized – could only be described as _recognition_.

"You two, come with me. And Winter?"

She saluted. "Sir."

He glanced back at the screen. "The system looks like it needs cleaning. See to it."

"Understood."

**[|}.{|]**

When they were outside, he led the pair of them passed the barricade and… didn't stop. He kept going and they followed. Their hearts were racing, and they briefly considered running for their lives, but they were too worn out at this point.

"Um… sir? Where are you taking us?" Emerald asked.

"The ballroom," he said simply.

"Oh."

In the distance, they saw Penny barreling towards them with a clearly worried Weiss jogging behind. Ironwood stopped and breathed a sigh of relief. Penny crashed into the pair who held their ground despite themselves.

"Penny."

The girl saluted. "Yes, sir!"

"See them to the ballroom for me, would you?"

He walked off with the most livid expression they'd ever seen, draining it quickly to greet Weiss who bowed before they parted ways.

Weiss hugged them first. "Are you two alright?" she asked as she inspected their faces.

"We're fine," Emerald laughed, undoing in the knot in her chest. She smiled up at Mercury when she realized that she meant it. "We're fine…"

"Yeah," he said, taking her by the waist. "Not a scratch on us."

Weiss grimaced. "Your nose looks a little bruised there though." They looked away embarrassed. "Whatever, I don't care. You two are safe and that's all that matters."

Penny nodded. "It is! Luckily, the General was there to diffuse the guards."

Merc scratched his cheek, looking the two girls over. "About that. The General knew who we were. Didn't you say you didn't tell him about us?"

The girls shared a look. "We didn't," Weiss said, "but it takes no stretch of the imagination that he might have known you were my friends. Even Penny might have mentioned you to him."

"That doesn't explain why he just let us go, though," Emerald reasoned. "If anything, it should have made us more suspicious."

"Agreed!" Penny said. She grabbed them by the wrists and smiled softly. "But we can worry about that later… for now, shall we?" She tugged them along and they followed. She let go eventually as they trailed the relieved little android into the ballroom.

There was no music when they entered. The party was over. Maybe the alarm getting triggered had done it, they didn't know. All that mattered was that everyone they cared about was there.

The fussing was sweet if unnecessary. Emerald's dizziness and Mercury's little injury were nothing to concern themselves about but Jaune insisted he heal them. Who knew it worked on nausea?

Yang, who had been responsible for distracting Mercury, took a page from Pyrrha's book and apologized profusely. They hugged it out. They all did.

The future was uncertain at this point. Seeking comfort seemed the most obvious step given what came. When it was made clear that Cinder knew they had defected, they knew there was nothing left to do. They couldn't tell them the truth until the day after.

**[|}.{|]**

Emerald's bags were packed. She didn't want them to be. She had wished to fuss over a few more things, maybe go out shopping or maybe fall into an existential crisis, but no, she had a clear head and had everything sorted out well before departure. So she stood there in her apartment, the little haven that was hers for not long enough, and she missed it already.

Pulling out of her bedroom led her into a hallway with empty walls. She'd even gotten used to Roman's choice basic art and décor. She'd grown to love it, even, but they were gone now too.

The living room was equally sparse. The widescreen had been smashed and cameras were nowhere to be seen. All of them haunted by the ghost of Cinder's plans, and the fleeting dread that bore itself in Emerald's living room.

She took off her shoes and felt the carpeting tickle the soles of her feet, gliding across them as she slid herself to her sofa. The smashed TV was a welcome sight, as was the bean bags in the center of the room, piled and tucked into a vacuum-sealed plastic bag. Penny had them keep it. It was a shame they couldn't take it with them.

The sound of Mercury coming out of the shower made her sit up. He was likely already dressed.

He walked into the room with both their bags in his hand, just a backpack each. Nothing special. Most of the things they were taking were keepsakes. They should have abandoned them like they told Tukson and Deery to, but they couldn't bear to.

"Did you bring everything you needed?" Mercury asked.

"Yeah…"

"What about everything you wanted?"

She chuckled. "That too. The scroll we got from Penny, Ruby's flint, even took that half-empty bottle of shampoo Yang left us."

He stood by the beanbag pile and glanced between her and the floor. "And… and the dress?"

She waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah, it's there. Have to have it straightened out but I'm not leaving that behind." She looked him up and down and bit her lip. "You bring the suit too?"

"Had to leave the shoes but yeah. Cufflinks and all. Even brought the multi-tool Jaune and Pyrrha got us." He looked back at the far wall, spying the sheen off a metal grid behind the TV. "Too bad we can't bring Sun's grill."

"A lot of memories on that one. Last night especially…"

He set the bags down and sat next to her, letting last night's whispers, tears, and merriment fill the spaces and the quiet. "Yeah…"

"Merc…" She began, reality sinking into her flesh and over the goosebumps that shuttered and froze. I'm…" She choked, gasped, but grit angrily at herself to hold back her gloom. She fell on his shoulder. "I'm… fuck me, I'm going to miss them."

He sighed, knotting his got a hundred times over. "Me too, Em." There was knock on the door.

No one was supposed to be here.

Mercury got up quickly, fists clenched. "I'll go check. Stay here."

"It's me!" They heard a familiar voice. "It's Yang… I… please let me in."

Emerald shot him a worried look. He bit his lip and sighed. She wasn't supposed to be here, no one was, but of course she couldn't keep away.

He walked to the door and opened it to the dry-eyed mess that Yang Xiao Long. She tried to smile, really she did, but it was buried in what was her abject grief, rolling over her features till she looked unkempt and sullen. He stood aside to let her in but she crashed into him instead.

Emerald emerged from the hallway and Yang looked up from Mercury's shoulder and reached out for her, beckoning her to join. Emerald came quickly and slid beneath Mercury's arm to hold her too.

"I wanna be selfish…" Yang managed between her dry heaves and hoarse sobbing. "I wanna tell you not to go. I don't…" she sniffed, "I don't want to have to lose you two…"

They said nothing as they held her close, cradling her in the warmth that would be their last gift. And Yang took it for all that she was and all that they could give, clinging desperately to the memory and what might be lost. Her heart heaved, as did her throat as she nestled herself between them.

Mercury held her head and ran his fingers through her hair. Yang coming over on the day of departure was stupid and dangerous, but that was the last thing on his mind. She was here to pour her heart out, and the wetness of his chest spoke volumes of how much she holding in the night before and let loose on the way here. There were things unsaid between them still, and even in all the time they had left, they would go unsaid.

Because Yang formed no words and sank into them, grasping at all that remained that might not be lost to the autumn winds as they vanished into the wilds.

She never said goodbye. Couldn't, really. She left that night with a kiss on either cheek, a laugh, a smile, and nothing more. It was those eyes that begged them to stay the most, even if she could no longer form the words to say them. She managed a smile of her own still, bitter and fractured that it was, but it was honest, true, and forged with the pieces of her that they sculpted through tears and that quiet, solemn affection she had fallen in love with.

**[|}.{|]**

The city fell away as they stared out of the train car and sped into the wilds. No one saw them to the station. They couldn't. Things were dangerous here and would continue to be for as long as they were in the city.

Mercury sat with Emerald clung to his side. Her fingers ran over the length of his arm, absentmindedly picking out strands of loose cloth in his heavy, barely held together jacket. "Part of me wanted to take her with us," she said. "I know it would've been stupid and impulsive but it wouldn't have been so lonely in here."

"I'll miss her too, Em," he admitted, eying his bag beside him where Yang's wrench was nestled somewhere inside. "I don't know where Roman is leading us, but I hope it at least has reception. Maybe we could drop them a line when we stop wherever it is we're stopping."

"That would be nice," she said, pulling her feet up onto the seat. She sighed. "But it's wishful thinking. It's probably remote, wherever the hell he is. Maybe we'll live off the land again."

Mercury groaned. "I hate hunting. I hope it'd be a little more exciting than that."

They crested passed a mountainside, the rolling forests dipping well below like a sea of green. In the distance they saw a cabin by a lake, plume of smoke wafting from its chimney. It looked quaint, quiet, but they dreaded the lifestyle it offered.

"I kinda hate that I don't care about where we go or how we live in it," Mercury said. "I just don't want a life outside of people anymore. Outside of _them_. Is that weird for me to say?"

She laughed, like a melody tittering passed her chest as she smiled up at him. "A year back, maybe, but not anymore. New you, Merc."

He stared out a while longer, watching clouds pass over hilltops in the next bend.

Emerald had changed too, he thought. Even if his was more pronounced, hers was more profound. She let go of Cinder. "I'll be honest," he began, "looking at the way things are now, I don't miss the old you at all."

She held him close. "You took Cinder's place. The old me can go fuck herself and so can she."

He laughed, her rising and falling ever so slightly on his chest. "Yeah, old me can go fuck himself too. Still, too bad change comes with a heart. Thing fuckin' hurts…"

"Mm…"

They entered a tunnel as the lights in the cabin lit, but there's were dim.

He kissed her then. Then again and again until the tunnel gave way to the world. She reveled in his affections, juvenile and clingy as they were, and reveled in them still as they matured, coveted and loved.

Their scrolls pinged. They didn't bother reading.

They got up and out the backdoor.

Minutes later, when the train was lower to the ground, Mercury and Emerald sailed through the sky on the back of his bike, falling into the wilds heading off into the distance.

**[|}.{|]**

They drove down a clear path over grass and dirt for minutes. Their scroll was finally able to pinpoint Roman's scroll, though that was likely because he made it active for tracking. They drove until they heard noises in the distance.

When the bike stopped, Emerald stood on the back but couldn't see passed the bend in the road. "Sounds like people. Think he has company?"

"Hopefully they're welcoming."

She clung to his back but pulled out her sickles. They drove forward, bidden only by the sound of their scrolls, but they felt something pass over them. They didn't know what it was. It felt like they had just driven through the lightest invisible mesh, like a sheet of spider webs.

Then, coming from the side of one tree, was Neo. She waved them down.

"Neo!" Emerald called, inspecting her with sudden apprehension. "Why are you in an Atlesian uniform? Don't tell me you guys stole an Atlesian bullhead…"

Neo shook her head.

"Oh?"

She waved for them to follow her, and they did.

When they saw a small army of Atlas troops standing around in a barricade, they nearly panicked, but then their throats hitched at what they were guarding. Hovered just off a cliff edge wasn't a bullhead, but an entire Atlesian battleship! The troops were probably just dressed up goons if Roman was in charge here.

"Huh," Mercury said, laughing to himself. "Okay, crazy as this is, I don't think I mind spending my days sleeping in a battleship."

"No!" Emerald wailed. "This is _way_ worse! How the hell is this discreet!?"

Neo pouted and shook her head.

"Neo, this is not okay."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. Beckoning them.

"Merc…"

"C'mon, Em, we don't got a choice at this point."

"Fine…"

As they approached, Neo waved at the disguised goons only to have them salute at her. "Okay, overselling it, guys," Mercury mumbled.

They drove slowly passed the barricade and found Roman talking to one of his men. In his hands he was cradling a strongbox barely the size of his torso. "Kids!" he cheered. "So good to see you again!"

"Roman, what the _fuck_!"

"Emerald, please, language." _Where does he get off, doting like a fucking parent!?_ "And don't you worry your pretty little head." He gestured behind him. "This is all perfectly legal."

She stared at him incredulously. "How?!"

Roman shushed. "Quiet down, Emerald, you'll wake him." They stared at the strongbox then back at him. "Oh, right, I suppose this requires some explanation."

"All of it," Emerald said sternly, Mercury mirroring her. "Now."

…

There were few people who could walk into the General's office unannounced without a thrashing or an arrest. Jacques, Qrow, Ozpin, the list was short, but there was a subsection of that list that only withheld the thrashing and/or arrest for a minute or two, that list had only one name: Roman Torchwick.

"Jimmy!" the flamboyant man announced as he burst through Ironwood's door.

He groaned. "Oda..."

"No, no," he waggled his finger, glare pointedly beneath his smile, "Oda Valkyrie is _dead_ , Jim-James. Its Roman Torchwick now, capiche?"

James raised a brow, incredulous that Roman would test it. "Your sister has a child," he said with a deadpan.

"I know," he replied quickly, pulling out his scroll. "I've been taking care of the little brat since he came out of the womb. I have pictures." He showed him a gallery filled to the brim with baby photos of a little ginger baby boy, his parents, and two old caretakers – one of them was half her husband's height.

James understood quickly and sat back, taken by surprise. "Didn't think you still had a heart."

"I ran off with Neo," he said, stowing the device away. "That should be evidence enough that I've not gone _completely_ to hell."

James hummed affirmatively, eye still watching him with suspicion. "So what do you want, Oda?"

" _Roman_..." he corrected with an irate smile.

James grinned, a twitch in his eye. "I've made General _and_ Headmaster. I can call you whatever the hell I want."

"Fine," he waved it off before mumbling. "Give a guy a few accolades and he thinks he's better than you."

His arm slammed his desk. "I _am_ better than you. I didn't have you shot out of the damn _sky_ when you arrived, especially after the fiasco you caused last time you were in my airspace!"

"Hey, no one _died_."

His fingers tensed, wanting everything to strangle the man before him. "You blew up my house!"

Roman crossed his arms. "And whose crazy idea was it to put a maximum security prison underneath your estate?"

Fists slammed onto the desk again. " **Yours!** "

"Oh, right..." Roman said sheepishly.

James slapped hand down his face. "Just... tell me what you want."

Roman's expression was unusually somber then, his smile losing luster. James was suddenly intrigued. "Well, I've got some kids who've gone a bad way and I was hoping to put them up with an old friend."

"You want me to adopt?"

"Oh no, no, no! _Hire_. They're seventeen. Basically huntsmen already, they just need a roof over their heads and a city that hasn't completely gone to shit where your queen-sized problem can nab them."

"They worked for her?"

"Not _directly_. They worked for a particular kind of woman. Y'know, the one that's more viper than vixen? We all know the type. She was holding them by the throat but now they've broken free."

He wasn't completely sold on it but James wasn't about to turn away someone seeking asylum from the damn Grimm or their constituents. "Their odds of defecting? I'm not about to risk my city on a favor, Oda."

Roman's eye twitched. Neo, somewhere in the room, giggled silently. "Well, _Jimmy_ , I can assure you that they'd be more loyal to you than I will."

"I don't need the loyalty of an amok thief."

"You will when I offer to come back."

James stood up, glaring at him seriously. "Explain."

"I'll be a specialist again. I'll uproot your crime lords, spy on the unsavory, and I'll cow that little thorn on your side, Jacques, so he's less of a nuisance. Whaddaya say?" He held out a hand to shake.

James stared at the proffered hand but didn't take it. "It's a good thing your ego's still intact. I almost thought you were a changed man, but I guess some things never change. Still, you seem to be making all my decisions for me here."

Roman's hand fell away, the bitterness in his smile was back. "Well, I like to layout the contract the way I like it. Look, James, these kids worked with the wrong people and after finally getting some direction and making _friends,_ they're at risk of losing their lives to a thorn bush they thought was an olive branch. A mistake we're all familiar with. So, if you won't give _me_ a chance, at least put _them_ on a trial run."

James hadn't planned on leaving any of them out in the cold, but it was clear that Roman was desperate to keep them safe, especially at his own expense. "You're afraid, too, aren't you?" James asked.

"I am," he admitted, "but I've survived this long. What's a little more running? My feet will get sore without a big military-grade roof over my head and no worries to help me sleep at night, but I've lived through worse." His conviction was brimming, coiling off the small, almost genuine smile he had.

"Fine, I'll take you all in but I know you mean to sneak Neo into your quarters so I'll require that you actually register her this time."

Roman hid his surprise and relief well. "You're being awfully generous. Kinda warms the heart."

"I am," he replied sternly. "Since your employment was confidential and largely at my own expense, your fiasco didn't make news. You're lucky it was more embarrassing than it was dangerous. This means you'll come in with a blank slate but this also means you need to do what I say."

"OK, Jimmy, no cheek," Roman conceded, stepping back and standing straight, hands properly tucked together. It was strange seeing him offer himself up like this. "What are your conditions?"

"Reach out to Nora," he said. "She deserves to know her brother is not only alive but has been taking care of her son."

Roman nodded.

"You will be responsible for these… _kids_ of yours. That means you and Neo will have to be legally married and adopting them."

He scratched his cheek. "Uh, about that..."

James sighed. "Roman..."

"No, no, uh... They're _fucking_ so I can't make them siblings."

He nearly choked. "O-oh...well, adopt _one_ of them." He moved around his desk to the side, hands running over the old ivory and up to a few forms he kept on his desk. He pulled some out and went over them. "Finally – and I cannot stress this enough – since you'll be registering as a citizen, you'll have to start paying taxes too."

Roman's look of horror was feasibly satisfying. "Oh, c'mon, Jimmy, let's not get ahead of ourselves," he tried to gamble.

James glared.

"O-okay, sure, honest taxpaying citizen, right here."

"Same goes for Neo," he added quickly.

Roman fell to his knees. "But my money!" he whined.

"Stop being a child," he said and he offered a hand to shake and to hoist him to his feet. "Welcome back to Atlas, Oda Valkyrie. I look forward to your makeover. Don't want those wanted posters coming back to bite me." Turned out, Ironwood had some cheek of his own.

Roman sighed as he shook the proffered hand. "Hair dye, no mascara, and a new name... Nope, totally not losing my sense of self for a couple of kids…"

"That's parenting, Roman, you'll get used to it."

…

Emerald and Mercury stared up at the very real, very legal, and very likely manned battleship with both awe and a distinct lack of immediate comprehension. Then they eyed the group of equally real troops who saluted at, who was apparently their superior officer, Specialist Roman god-damn Torchwick.

"This is real…" Emerald mused, still lost in her stupor.

Neo skipped over and handed them a set of papers.

"Just as real as these adoption papers," Roman said. "I'm going to have to adopt one of you since I'll be a registered citizen. Hope you two like taxes!" Somewhere amidst the story, the strongbox – via Neo's little tricks – transformed back into a little ginger baby who nuzzled quietly into the crook of Roman's neck. He handed him off to Neo. "So which one will it be?"

They looked at each other and nodded. "I'll do it," Mercury said. "Black didn't really suit me anyway. Too much Marcus in it for my taste."

"Good! Then I hope you enjoy being a Valkyrie!"

"What?"

Roman hadn't mentioned that part of the story just the gist of it. "Oh, well, your little friend Nora is my sister. By the end of today, she'll be your aunt."

Emerald laughed, playing with Mercury's hair. "Cute. I can't wait to tell Nora."

Roman grinned. "You're not getting out of this either, missy. Next year, you two will be married as per your cover. You get to be part of the family!"

She wanted complain but couldn't find the heart to. Instead she fell onto Mercury's head and smiled. "I guess it's not too bad. We won't hear the end of it from Nora, though."

Roman chuckled. "Neither will I." His scroll pinged and with a quick glance, he gestured for them to follow. "C'mon, it'll be a long trip so I'll show you to your rooms. Jimmy would also like to talk to you on the bridge once we set off. He has a few choice questions about your old employer. No objections, I presume?"

He didn't really need to ask.

**[|}.{|]**

The landing pads at Atlas academy were luckily supplied with cafes. Mercury and Emerald were sat there alone together by the window. She was on her phone and he was sipping an expensive drink that wasn't worth the price. Their hands were on the table, their engagement rings overlapping.

"Can't we just get a wedding planner?" he asked. "My mind's going a mile-a-minute just trying to figure what the colors we should use and I'm already having regrets."

She took no offense to it. "We can't afford it, Merc. A huntsman's salary isn't exactly the lap of luxury."

"What about Weiss? She could do it for free."

Emerald put down her scroll. "Okay, I'll admit that she handled it pretty well on her own, but I'm not about to ask her to do it out of nowhere."

"So… you want _me_ to do it?"

"You're the shameless one."

"And that's it? I surrender my pride and this nightmare ends?"

She bit her lip. "No…? I mean, Neptune had to handle everything else and he was still worn out. Picking the venue, hiring the rentals, seating arrangements, picking out the guests. A planner isn't the end-all be-all solution to a wedding plan."

"Ugh!" he groaned. "Why can't this stuff just be easy for once? Can we just go back to punching Grimm? That was simple. We show up, we kill 'em, then we're done! No extra steps!" He grimaced, remembering something. "…Mostly."

"Nothing worth it ever comes easy."

" _You_ certainly do."

She blushed and slapped his hand. "Fuck you."

He laughed. "That's the idea."

"You're insufferable."

"I'm sorry you feel that way." He laughed, taking his other hand to cradle hers, thumb affectionately rubbing over the ring. "You're stuck with me now…"

She put her hand over his. "I suppose having you around does have its up sides."

"You're not too bad yourself." Their scrolls pinged. "They're here, guess we gotta go."

Outside, a commercial bullhead settled down as passengers poured out in droves. Mercury and Emerald stood outside to welcome the small army that marched out to tackle them. They were prepared, though. Penny fell from the sky and buffered their backs in a ready hug of her own. Yang hugged them first, squeezing them tight before the rest of them huddled in a familiar circle.

Off to the side, Roman and Neo watched them happily, their nephew clung to Neo's neck and slumbered quietly. Nora noticed them before he saw her, and walked over with Ren.

"Oda," she greeted with a smile.

"Hey, you," he said softly. He wasn't expecting her to form tears or to hold him close. He also wasn't expecting to return them with earnest. He hugged her back, choking as he squeezed tight and buried his face in her shoulder. She took this as a sign to squeeze tighter. His spine almost didn't survive.

Ren was playing with Li and chatting – as much as he could – with Neo, who spoke mainly with her scroll. He was finally introduced to his brother-in-law once Nora let of him. They got along, strange as it was that Ren was the one being overprotective. Much to Roman's relief, he was only joking. Kind of. He still had to earn back his place in the family. Not that he'd give him a hard time for it.

They later met with Emerald and Mercury who were about to be part of the family. Nora, predictably, erupted.

Yang silently offered to join in. Emerald and Mercury took her aside that night to plan out their future together. It wasn't clear to anyone if she ended up dating them, but she moved in and that was all they were willing to say about it at the time.

By the end of it all there was an aisle, some vows, an old song sung by a choir of drunks. Some Grimm, a mad scientist, and a near death experience. A quiet evening at home, some scented candles, and the loudest bedroom marathon since team STRQ. A kid of their own, an Academy, and a little sister in the oven. Little sister came with back pains. Mercury and Yang did most of the work that year, refusing Emerald's offer to help.

It wasn't that the future was bright or easy to get to. It was often ugly, imperfect, and didn't always fit well together but they made it work.

They ended up returning to Beacon years down the line. Married for what they described was, "too damn long, and way too soon."

A new generation of huntsmen stood before them, some of them were the happy little accidents of their youth. Other were orphans, some were scarred, some were older than seventeen with whatever loomed behind those eyes alone, and some were just fucking normal but they had a story to tell them all the same.

That they were fucked up kids with no options, made worse by their circumstance, worsened still by poisoned minds. And despite all that, they were worth saving, the people around them made damn sure of that. But it started with believing it themselves or – as they held each other's hand – by finding someone who could believe enough for them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to come out and say thank you to everyone who lent their support to this fic. I am deeply moved and I swear I thought I'd lose it so many just trying to get this thing off the ground more times than I can count, but I persevered with your help and got it out. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, thank you for taking the time to leave a few words.
> 
> This won't be the end either, really. Though Oil and Water has come to a close, I'll still be using Mercury and Emerald in the stories to come because I love these two. Happy Holidays and whatnot, folks. Now I'm going to bed. It's 3am.


End file.
